It"s Getting Cold ,what To Do About The Water?????????

[Ridgerunner]

I'm in a different climate than you and I water outside, so what I do probably would not work for you. The coldest it got here last year was only 4 degrees Fahrenheit. That's tropical compared to some others on here. I set a black rubber bowl in the sun. When the ice freezes in it, like it does overnight, I just turn it over and stomp the ice out. It does not always stay thawed during the day, that depends on how cold it really gets and how much sunshine I get, but it works for me.

There are several different ways to keep it thawed. I suggest building a stable platform up out of the litter and firmly attach your waterer up there or have it heavy enough, even when empty, so they cannot turn it over. That way it is up out of the litter, which reduces the fire danger, and they don't scratch so much litter and trash in it. Hang something over it so they can't try to perch on top of it. Firmly attach any electrical cable you run to it so they cannot scratch it loose or perch on it. Make the platform big enough so they can stand up there and drink. Don't make the platform so high that they want to roost on it instead of the roosts.

I don't do it this way. I have no experience with it, so take it for what it is worth. If I had to do it, this is how I would attempt it. Maybe you can get something out of this that helps. Good luck!

 

[acerguy]

I made a Cookie Tin Water Heater as found here on BYC. Seems to work great and my total investment is about $15...most of that was for the thermo cube to turn it on and off.

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

I bought a one gallon, electric heated dog water bowl for my chickens, and it works great.



But what works just about as well (at least here in Memphis, in the mid-south) is to bring a 2 gallon plastic pail of very warm water into the henhouse in the early morning. I fill the pail pretty much to the top with the warm water during freezing weather, and most of the time that works to keep water available for the chickens during the rest of the day. I think the sheer volume of water in the pail is alot of the reason why it seldom freezes up over the course of the day. Of course, that method probably would not work well in Alaska, but it works pretty well here in Memphis, where days seldom drop to freezing and even cold nights usually don't go below about 20 degrees F.



I tell you what I concluded was a big MISTAKE:

My first winter with chickens, I bought two 3 gallon heated chicken waterers for about 35 bux per waterer. They looked great, and yes, they did keep the water from freezing.

HOWEVER, the hole you had to pour the water into the feeder was on the BOTTOM, making it necessary to turn the waterer completely upside down in order to add water to the thing. Then, when the waterer was completely full, you had to flip the thing over -- which spilled a bunch of water all over the place. Oh, yeah, most of the water did stay in the waterer, but you would always get wet when the stupid thing was flipped over. Then, you had to plug the electric cord back into the WET waterer.

I still have those two heated chicken waterers, but I have no plans to use them this year.

 

[Pampered Hen]

I live in Vermont where it can get bad ass cold. I like the metal base with a heating element on which you place a metal waterer. That works great for the coop. Only my hens, prefer to be outside. There I like to use a rubber bowl. When the water freezes I just turn the thing over and knock the frozen mass out and refill it with fresh warm water. I usually do this in the morning. We also tend to get a lot of snow and I watched the chickens eating the snow in lieu of drinking water! When I realized that the girls have good instincts I began to worry less about their water freezing during the day when I was gone and I don't think they have ever gone thirsty.

 

[Chickie15]

Last winter we had just been thawing the waterer out every morning by dumping water in it until it unfroze enough to smash the rest out.

Then we decided the get the metal heating base for the waterer and it worked really well, so that's what we're planning on using again this year. We were told that they can be used on the plastic waterers too because they don't get hot enough to melt the plastic, so I would assume that they would work the same with a plastic bucket.

 

[kybeagle]

Quote:
You can get this same thing at TSC for just a touch over $35.

 

[Beekissed]

I use the black rubber feed pan for horses. It doesn't freeze easily and, when it does, it is easily dumped and refilled. It also is more conducive for adding ACV than the galvanized ones.

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
Might not work too well in VT or upstate NY either. I tried it one year, the water froze so fast it cracked the rubber pan so it leaked. When you can toss water from a pail out onto the ground and have it freeze before it hits the ground you need some sort of a heater--I use the galvanized heater under a galvanized, double wall.

 

[fratmor]

well I have gone for the big bucks,I bought a plastic heated waterer $43.later my chicks will have warm water this winter. they are costing a small fortune,when will they start paying me back?with eggs

 

[ajaldridge]

Petsmart has something similer to the heated poultry base for Snakes. Not sure how much or anything though yet. I'm going to look at it later this week when I get paid as we'll need something with Winter heading in soon. We had one for our snake and it worked fantastic with him, back when I was married. No more snakes for me, I'll stick to chickens but the knowledge of what is out to help keep them warm is coming in handy!!!