tweetzone86
Songster
Hello all!
So my coop electricity is somewhat...well let's just say we've got a 12 gauge extension cord running out there because the previous owners knew nothing about electricity and it's a wonder they didn't electrocute themselves and my shed didn't blow up.
Ahem...suffice to say that I have two electricity needs and am trying to figure out the best solution. I've got a 32 watt LED shop light out there right now, but my father is an electrician (well, he knows as much as one from work experience but could never afford the actual journeyman test) and he said as long as it's not in the chicken area (bedding, fire hazard) and I don't overload the circuit then for this winter only I can put a power strip on the end of the extension cord so I can plug in a watering heater and the light.
So my next question is- does anyone have some fire-safe ideas to heat their water? Due to many failed attempts at alternatives, their waterer consists of a 16" or so diameter rubber hog feeder (looks like a black rubber dog dish) from TSC elevated above the bedding on two cinder blocks (since the chickens kept filling it with chopped straw when it wasn't elevated). This is the cleanest way I've managed to get their water, but it's most definitely not heated.
We get pretty cold winters here, the daytime temps have been known to drop into the single digits and nighttime below zero on the coldest days. Their coop/our shed is insulated, but the chicken door and a ventilation window are open continuously during the day and the vent window at night. So it's not exactly warm in there per se.
Here's an illustrated photo of my setup, to give you an idea:
So the back half is their coop area, as we have built in cabinets and such from prev owner in the rest of the shed. I don't want them to be able to peck at the cord for fear of an electrical short in the coop area itself (which is separated by a framed wall with chicken wire and a chicken wire door from the rest of the shed).
But there are days where I have several dr appointments, and I'm going to be having surgery (God willing- fighting Medicaid right now to pay for it) sometime this fall. My husband works away from home FT, and no matter how good they are at chopping wood, I can't expect my 6 and 9 year old to chop ice. And I won't be able to do any chopping either (hysterectomy and such so abdominal surgery- axe-swinging will be a BIG no-no for months).
I can plug the heater in to the strip outside of "coop zone" aka away from the straw bedding, but I need to know the best way y'all have found of configuring a heater for a waterer, and what heater you think will work in the heavy rubber hog feeder dish. I can run an extension cord from waterer to power strip if need be.
(Oh, prob important note- my chickens' feed and water are in the coop area itself, rather than outside. Their run, as you can see, is open to the elements and they go inside to eat and drink (I do put water in the run in another hog dish during summer though, but not winter) and that way they can eat and drink prior to me letting them out because ain't no way on God's green earth am I getting up at 2 am to let them out in winter!).
So water dish is inside the coop area, I can run an extension cord if need be but I need to know what heater I can get that won't melt the hog dish, will keep water thawed, and has some sort of configuration that the chickens can't peck at the cord and cause an electrical fire. I don't want fried chicken
Thanks!
So my coop electricity is somewhat...well let's just say we've got a 12 gauge extension cord running out there because the previous owners knew nothing about electricity and it's a wonder they didn't electrocute themselves and my shed didn't blow up.
Ahem...suffice to say that I have two electricity needs and am trying to figure out the best solution. I've got a 32 watt LED shop light out there right now, but my father is an electrician (well, he knows as much as one from work experience but could never afford the actual journeyman test) and he said as long as it's not in the chicken area (bedding, fire hazard) and I don't overload the circuit then for this winter only I can put a power strip on the end of the extension cord so I can plug in a watering heater and the light.
So my next question is- does anyone have some fire-safe ideas to heat their water? Due to many failed attempts at alternatives, their waterer consists of a 16" or so diameter rubber hog feeder (looks like a black rubber dog dish) from TSC elevated above the bedding on two cinder blocks (since the chickens kept filling it with chopped straw when it wasn't elevated). This is the cleanest way I've managed to get their water, but it's most definitely not heated.
We get pretty cold winters here, the daytime temps have been known to drop into the single digits and nighttime below zero on the coldest days. Their coop/our shed is insulated, but the chicken door and a ventilation window are open continuously during the day and the vent window at night. So it's not exactly warm in there per se.
Here's an illustrated photo of my setup, to give you an idea:
So the back half is their coop area, as we have built in cabinets and such from prev owner in the rest of the shed. I don't want them to be able to peck at the cord for fear of an electrical short in the coop area itself (which is separated by a framed wall with chicken wire and a chicken wire door from the rest of the shed).
But there are days where I have several dr appointments, and I'm going to be having surgery (God willing- fighting Medicaid right now to pay for it) sometime this fall. My husband works away from home FT, and no matter how good they are at chopping wood, I can't expect my 6 and 9 year old to chop ice. And I won't be able to do any chopping either (hysterectomy and such so abdominal surgery- axe-swinging will be a BIG no-no for months).
I can plug the heater in to the strip outside of "coop zone" aka away from the straw bedding, but I need to know the best way y'all have found of configuring a heater for a waterer, and what heater you think will work in the heavy rubber hog feeder dish. I can run an extension cord from waterer to power strip if need be.
(Oh, prob important note- my chickens' feed and water are in the coop area itself, rather than outside. Their run, as you can see, is open to the elements and they go inside to eat and drink (I do put water in the run in another hog dish during summer though, but not winter) and that way they can eat and drink prior to me letting them out because ain't no way on God's green earth am I getting up at 2 am to let them out in winter!).
So water dish is inside the coop area, I can run an extension cord if need be but I need to know what heater I can get that won't melt the hog dish, will keep water thawed, and has some sort of configuration that the chickens can't peck at the cord and cause an electrical fire. I don't want fried chicken
Thanks!
The small cap on top of gallon too small for chickens to perch on also. Chickens drink water from the moat created with this setup.
