- Thread starter
- #11
Hello in Seward!
This is a great time of year to start planning your flock and set-up! I am not sure how many/what kind you are planning to start with- but there are a lot of enthusiastic chicken owners up here! Everyone is itching for spring- and in the not too distant future their will be a lot of chicks for sale up here, if you prefer to buy them locally.
My best advice: Keeping water from freezing all winter long is clearly an issue for us- I have stacked landscape paving bricks in my coop and set my 5 gallon galvanized waterer on top of them. On top of the bricks, and below the waterer I use an oil pan heater- that you would use on your car- it is plugged into a thermocube (from Home Depot)- so it shuts off if the temps go above freezing (saves electricity). The oil pan heater is wafer thin/flat and enclosed in rubber (waterproof)- it does a great job of keeping the water free from ice all winter long! There are other methods that people use- but I am thrilled with this set-up! I tried a bunch of different methods- and this was the best. The expensive heated dishes etc... that are sold, are not rated for temperatures as low as we get- and they don't work and don't last!
This is a great time of year to start planning your flock and set-up! I am not sure how many/what kind you are planning to start with- but there are a lot of enthusiastic chicken owners up here! Everyone is itching for spring- and in the not too distant future their will be a lot of chicks for sale up here, if you prefer to buy them locally.
My best advice: Keeping water from freezing all winter long is clearly an issue for us- I have stacked landscape paving bricks in my coop and set my 5 gallon galvanized waterer on top of them. On top of the bricks, and below the waterer I use an oil pan heater- that you would use on your car- it is plugged into a thermocube (from Home Depot)- so it shuts off if the temps go above freezing (saves electricity). The oil pan heater is wafer thin/flat and enclosed in rubber (waterproof)- it does a great job of keeping the water free from ice all winter long! There are other methods that people use- but I am thrilled with this set-up! I tried a bunch of different methods- and this was the best. The expensive heated dishes etc... that are sold, are not rated for temperatures as low as we get- and they don't work and don't last!
