Looking for ideas on waterer for winter, heated dog bowl?

[thndrdancr]

I want to ask if a chicken will be able to dump on of those heated dog waterers? I need some ideas for cold weather.
Fussy does everything in her power to dump her water, and Lily is 8 weeks, is growing up to be the same way, so I will have TWO chickens eventually that are rambunctious with their water buckets.

Right now, I have a milk carton I cut out, wired INTO the side of the pen, and in the summer, I hose it out everyday, and change jugs once every couple of weeks. It works quite well and doesnt get too yukky, except for what the darned chicken is able to put in there with her foot (she still gets it a bit dirty).

I am thinkin a dog dish just is NOT workable, with this particular chicken. Any ideas for anything else thats easy in the winter and hopefully wont freeze up? I am out of ideas.

Doesnt anyone else have weird chickens like this? I KNOW Spotted Crow said her chicken tries to do this to make mash, maybe thats what Fussy is wanting, who knows? Lily doesnt have an excuse except she is just plain crazy.

 

[Rebeccahorse]

I had trouble with mine dumping their feed and water, so I went to the dollar store and bought dish pans. I filled one with water and the other food and there hasn't been much spillage since. they can't tip them over when they are full.
For winter I am going to use a rubber feeder for horses, it is about 3-4 inches tall and wide/round. It will be easy to crack the ice out if it forms. Chickens drink nonstop so I don't think it will freeze all the way through.

 

[SeaChick]

We bought a plastic dog dish and the heater part comes right off the bottom. We founf an old cast iton pot lid that it fits perfectly inside. This sits on an inverted flower pot to raise it up, and the metal waterer sits on top of that. The dog bowl cord is ver heavily coated and is conveniently wraped in a wire coil (to keep dogs from chewing it I guess) and we used cable attachers to secure it to the wall of the coop. It's plugged into a "Thermocube" thermostatically-controlled plug that turns it on at 34 degrees and off at 45.

Hope this helps,
Stacey

 

[Standard Hen]

Wow SeaChick that is a nice set-up. I used heated dog bowls last year and had no problems with them tipping or anything. This year I also purchased a small heated horse bucket but I really think it might be to deep and I will have to add blocks for them to stand on to get at it. It is small not a full size horse bucket and my chickens are all standards so I will have to see when I set it up. Almost time! I was going to put plastic on the doors last weekend but it was just to warm. Weird weather, usually by now that is all done! I liked the dog bowls, they worked well.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

I use two heated dog bowls ( each holds over a gallon and a half) in the winter time for watering 24 chickens...have never had a problem with them tipping or dumping them...

 

[MissPrissy]

This is an interesting idea.

http://www.website-design.ca/chick_heat.html

What do you do with all of those tins that come at Christmas? Make water heaters.

 

[tiffanyh]

That is a great idea, would even work as little heaters for the chickens...

 

[WoodlandWoman]

We have a heated water bowl. It seems like it wouldn't be really easy for a chicken to pick up and tip, but I don't know, as I don't have any bowl dumpers. Chickens can be pretty determined sometimes! You might have success with a heated base and a heavy ceramic crock bowl on top. I'd be afraid to use a submersible water heater, like they use for bird baths, in case she tosses that out and starts a fire.

Your best bet might be to just use a heated base and a metal waterer.
She won't have as much space to dunk her feet in and they're kind of heavy. The farm stores tend to only sell the great big ones, but I know some of the online hatcheries and stores have a lot of that equipment for sale, in smaller sizes. I just can't remember where I saw the smaller one. My Pet Chicken, maybe?

 

[hinkjc]

This is an interesting idea.

http://www.website-design.ca/chick_heat.html

That's exactly what we use for gallon and 3-5 gallon waterers. And then we use heated dog dishes for our wild eastern turkeys and pheasants.

Chickens drink nonstop so I don't think it will freeze all the way through.

Don't know if you have had chickens through a good harsh winter, but I can assure you they don't drink nonstop in the cold and it will freeze solid. At least, ours did and that's why we decided to get creative. A lot will depend on how often you can get out to your chickens to check on it as well.

Chickens drink a lot less in winter, but they still need free access to water when they want it. If it is frozen, they will be stressed which can cause other problems. Glad to hear everyone is thinking ahead.

Jody​

 

[JudyMcKinn]

I, like the poster above, use the black rubber pans. They come in all sizes, all about 3 inches deep, and from a small that is about 8 inches diameter, to one that is about 15 inches diameter, with 2 or 3 sizes in between. Depending on how many chickens you have in each coop. They freeze solid, when it gets cold enough, but you can slam then against the corner of the shed, stomp them, take a hammer with you to pound the ice out, or whatever. They are absolutely indestructable. I go out with fresh water each morning and early afternoon, break out the ice, and put in lukewarm water. This has worked great for me.
The pans aren't expensive. Start at about $3.00 and go up to $7 or $8, in our area. They last for years! Especially good for those who don't have electricity to their coops.
Oh, and I make a little platform of boards, or 2 X 6's, so they won't be so low if you have standard size chickens, which keeps them from scratching their shavings into them so bad.