How do you water your chickens in the winter?!

[Mrs MIA]

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Jody, how cold do you get at your coldest? I'm wondering if that would work here....

 

[muddstopper]

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I seriously hope you have some sort of GFCI on that tincan heater. And if you do, I hope others considering building this type of heater use one on theirs. Water and electricity dont play well together.

 

[hinkjc]

We average in the 20's here the past few winters. It's not as cold as it used to be. Sometimes we get down in the teens and single digits, but not often. Wind chills can get pretty cold tho.

Edited to add - Yes, we do have GFI outlets in all of our coops. All outdoor outlets should have them.

Jody

 

[Mrs MIA]

oooh... we typically never get above 0F in Jan/Feb, and hit -30, sometimes -40F as a low... I'm thinking 25w might not be enough. I usually put a 250w heatlamp right over the waterer.

 

[cheeptrick]

I use the plastic one gallon waterer...always fill with warm water...and change it out daily. I have two of them I rotate every morning and keep their water fresh daily. We get pretty cold here and last winter was LONG LONG LONG...had to dig out the coop more than 10 times last year. OH...I maintain a flock of 24 with this one gallon a day.

COME ON WOOLY BEAR CATERPILLAR please say your prediction this year is TRUE!! Less winter!!

PHOOEY on that old ground HOG...he always makes us wait another 6 weeks here in NH>

 

[hinkjc]

Ak - I only use a 25 watt because of our temps. If I use a higher watt bulb, the water gets warm and slimey. You can use any size (40, 60, etc) to meet your needs. Inside a shelter, the birds body heat helps too, but not enough to keep the water from freezing. You might want to test one out this year and see if it will do the job. There are great metal ones too, but don't use them on one gallon plastic waterers - it might melt them. The metal heater bases work great on metal waterers in any size. You may want to try that too or at least see what temps they are meant to work in. I realize what works here may not work there, as you got it much colder than we do.

Jody

 

[Mrs MIA]

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Thanks Jody... I may give that a try... We have galvanized 3-5 gallon waterers in the layer coop, so no worries about melting anything but ice.

I do have one of the heater bases, but I don't know if it works or not. We also have a plastic heated dish that I got for the dogs that holds about 1.5 gallons, but I don't relish the idea of playing in water to clean out the shavings 3 times a day at those temps.

 

[hinkjc]

Ak - I think you will have better luck with the metal ones in your climate. We use them for our 5 gallon waterers and our outside flight pens and they work well.

I also want to mention in addition to the GFI outlets for water heaters, folks must remember that these types of things are considered fire hazzards (just like heat lamps) if not used appropriately. Please think safety first and put your water heaters on concrete blocks or bricks and away from bedding materials to eliminate risk of fires. Safety first everyone.

Jody

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I give them water in those rubber bowls. I think the brand is fortex. I go out about 3-4 times a day. I dump out the ice and fill it up with nice warm water.

 

[Elly]

I work evenings...3-11, so during the winter I won't be able to go out to the coop several times to change frozen water in the bowls...I need a heat source to keep the water from freezing. What do people recommand?

If you don't have electricty in the coop is running an extension cord into the coop safe?

Would a heat lamp or spot light with a protective cage around it be better then a heated dog dish as I would hopefully get heat for the hens also.

I live in southern Ont. so our winters are very cold and can be long.