Keeping water from freezing in -degree weather

[Beer can]

I put the bulb in a heat lamp with a shrowd, and keep it about a foot above the water. It wasn't to keep the birds warm.That was a few years ago, when we had decent winters, in way upstate NY. The last couple winters I didn' t have any birds, and most of our winter was below zero with many days having -25 windchill. This winter is supposed to be justas cold if not colder. Maybe I should look into a bird bath heater. The rubber bowl is great also, when ever the water does freeze, the ice block falls right out.

 

[Beer can]

Neetabamie, if you wanted to stay with the 5 gallon pail, home brewing companies sell a bucket heater that wraps around it, I know Williams Brewing has them. If your getting -20 winters I don't know if it would be enough though. I might look into a bird bath heater myself, our winters are getting much colder and I don't know if a heat lamp will be enough. **** that global warming, Lol! Before I started using the lamp I would just knock the ice out of their rubber dish a couple times a day, I don't think they get enough water that way, boy were they thirsty when I refilled it!

 

[HumbleHen207]

Warm areas getting warmer, cold areas getting colder. We have just been getting more ice storms, always fun walking up the ice glazed hill with the water pails... Hit -25 or lower here at times. We tried many things and found the submersible heater the best, it turns off when the water warms up and turns back on when it starts to cool again which is nice. Its also four years old and still working great, a good investment in my opinion. Thinking I want to get a second so I can separate my waterfowl in the winter.

 

[Eggcessive]

I have heard others struggle with nipple waterers, and even the ones with little cups. I always use 2 of these in my coop for winter, and I refill them twice a day. For ease of cleaning, you can buy the ones with inserts, but I use plain stainless dog bowls that fit inside the 5 Qt models. These are reasonably priced: http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/api-all45;seasons-electric-heated-pet-bowl-5-qt

 

[neetabeamie]

Warm areas getting warmer, cold areas getting colder. We have just been getting more ice storms, always fun walking up the ice glazed hill with the water pails... Hit -25 or lower here at times. We tried many things and found the submersible heater the best, it turns off when the water warms up and turns back on when it starts to cool again which is nice. Its also four years old and still working great, a good investment in my opinion. Thinking I want to get a second so I can separate my waterfowl in the winter.

Where do you buy the submersible wormers?

 

[HumbleHen207]

Your local hardware store should have them. Home Depot or Lowes may even have them.

 

[neetabeamie]

So I bought an aquarium heater for my 5 gallon bucket, when I received it I noticed it had strict instructions that you can't plug it into anything but a wall outlet. There were also warnings about washing your hands after you used it because the chemicals could cause things like birth defects and things like that. So I didn't feel comfortable putting in my chicken water.
my question is, is there a type out there that doesn't have warnings like this? is there a battery-powered or a type where I can just plug it into an extenchion cord?

 

[MeepBeep]

So I bought an aquarium heater for my 5 gallon bucket, when I received it I noticed it had strict instructions that you can't plug it into anything but a wall outlet. There were also warnings about washing your hands after you used it because the chemicals could cause things like birth defects and things like that. So I didn't feel comfortable putting in my chicken water.
my question is, is there a type out there that doesn't have warnings like this? is there a battery-powered or a type where I can just plug it into an extenchion cord?

Those warnings are for liability, I doubt it has anything toxic on it or else it wouldn't be fish safe either (but pretty much everything is toxic according to California so every manufacture puts out liability paperwork) it can be run off and extension cord as well, again it's a liability thing, they don't want someone running it on 500 feet of extension and then suing when something goes wrong... There are drawbacks to fish heaters, they run a lot hotter, are usually made of glass, and they honestly don't always have a long service life, they fail regularly unless you spend a lot on them... If you are going to use a fish heater turn it all the way down, keep it from touching any plastic in your water dish using say a wire mesh holder, make sure to always have it covered and submerged in water aka never let the water bowl empty and get yourself what they call a 'Thermo Cube' at Menards or Home Depot and plug it into that, so that it only turns on when necessary... Personally I would recommend against the fish tank heater, dollar for dollar its penny wise and dollar silly over say a bird bath heater or already made heated bucket...

http://www.menards.com/main/plumbing/water-systems/deicers/thermo-cube-outlet/p-135290-c-8647.htm

 

[HumbleHen207]

A lot of those warnings refer to the cord I have discovered, not the element itself. Same deal for my heat lamps that I use for brooding chicks.

 

[pdirt]

So I bought an aquarium heater for my 5 gallon bucket, when I received it I noticed it had strict instructions that you can't plug it into anything but a wall outlet. There were also warnings about washing your hands after you used it because the chemicals could cause things like birth defects and things like that. So I didn't feel comfortable putting in my chicken water.
my question is, is there a type out there that doesn't have warnings like this? is there a battery-powered or a type where I can just plug it into an extenchion cord?

I used an aquarium heater last winter and it worked well. I've read of some folks having had used the same heater going on 5 years. Be absolutely sure the water level doesn't get too close to the heater. I had mine get to be just at the level of the heater, it was partially exposed and when I opened the bucket, it was steaming. Not good...I had expected the "safety auto off" would have kicked in but it didn't. Perhaps it had not heated enough to the point of triggering the auto off.

I also used a submersible stock tank heater, which I prefer. It has a built-in thermocube feature (on at 34F, off at 45F, I think), so it uses less electricity. It worked well setup in a 3.5 gallon bucket fixed with horizontal nipples down to -9F (probably colder with windchill).

I had problems using the vertical nipples freezing up with the stock tank heater but they worked fine with the aquarium heater. Overall, I prefer the horizontal nipples because they don't dribble when the chickens drink from them. We had some chickens with wet heads due to using the vertical nipples and I think that may have contributed to some comb frostbite.