How to keep water cups and pipes from freezing???

[secuono]

I'm about to buy a bunch of water cups for my chickens and sell or reuse all the 1gal waterers as scoops or something. I'm just sick of them.
Anyway, I need to know how to keep them from freezing. I was going to get an aquarium heater and toss one in the bucket, wrap the pipes in foam insulation. Wrap the insulation with ductape so the chickens won't eat it. We all know they love styrofoam, so I'm sure the other stuff they will mess with too.
They will be in the coop, not insulated, chicken door open, 2.5x3ft window always open and a 1.5x3ft window also always open.

Do you think this will be enough?
Anything else I can do?

 

[BHyder1]

I too have been thinking about winter problems again. The best thing I have found is a heated dog dish, at the feed store for around 20 I think. It held up better than anything else. Just have to keep plenty of water in it, and thats the other problem! carrying buckets in the snow...Hope others have better ideas.

 

[secuono]

I do not want to use anything but the cup waterers. Last year I had a heat lamp over two 1gal waterers and they only froze on the worst nights and only in the red bowl.

 

[jmagill]

The cup waterers will not work for freezing weather. I tried but the just freeze too easily.
Water left in the cups freezes and causes problems( even if you can get the water in the pipe to not freeze)

 

[Tofer76]

i have a water nipple set up in 5 gal buckets and use a bucket deicer and it works good but i still put in a heated dog dish just in case the nips freeze

i take a 2 gallon jug of water out w me to fill with as my hose is put up for winter

 

[hwcameron]

I used a cookie tin with guts of a 40w lamp sticking through a hole I drilled in the side. I plugged the hole with silicone once I got the cord through so water wouldn't get to the lamp. I buried it flush with the ground and set their waterer on top. It work really good for 28 and 29 degrees we get here in Arkansas. But I am trying to figure out how to protect my cups this year so I don't have to carry water so often. I got the cups because I hear they were better but now I am thinking that the nipples would have been easier to insulate.