solar heat from pop cans...

[patandchickens]

If you use a nipple waterer it will freeze up *promptly* any time the indoor coop temperature drops to 32 F or below.

The easiest way to deal with winter watering without electricity is to just have multiple waterers, of a type that will not be damaged by freezing (i.e. NOT the double-wall galvanized type), and haul water a couple times a day. if the containers are large and you insulate them, the water will stay liquid for a pretty reasonable length of time.

it takes a LOT of solar heat collected during daytime (when you don't so much need it) and released during the nighttime to actually keep water liquid -- I am not aware of any simple solar designs that will really do that much good, unless you are talking ground-source heat for livestock waterers but that's a whole lot of work to go to for chickens.

Pat

 

[Hen_House_Rocks!]

Thanks Pat! I just saw where someone used an aquarium heater for their waterer. I'm going to see if my husband can wire one up to a solar panel. If it could heat up the water enough during the day, it might keep it from completely freezing up at night. (Plus I have some old solar panels and a couple of old aquarium heaters just lying around in the garage anyways.)

 

[patandchickens]

Hen_House_Rocks! :

Thanks Pat! I just saw where someone used an aquarium heater for their waterer. I'm going to see if my husband can wire one up to a solar panel.

If you use an aquarium heater, be aware that the majority of them, certainly the cheaper ones, must never ever be run *out* of water, not even for a minute or two -- which means your waterer must never, ever come close to running dry.

If it could heat up the water enough during the day, it might keep it from completely freezing up at night. (Plus I have some old solar panels and a couple of old aquarium heaters just lying around in the garage anyways.)

Sorry, but if your coop is cold enough to need a waterer heater in the first place, this is not really likely to work. For one thing, it would be cheaper and simpler to just haul a bucket o' hot water out there once a day rather than rigging up enough solar panels to heat your water that hot (and you'd have to make real sure it didn't get so hot as to be undrinkable or burn-y ot the chickens...). For another thing, even with a pretty well insulated container, the water will cool down and exposed parts start freezing within some hours, like considerably less than the duration of a night. I can tell you that in a 0 F (ish) barn, water that is soup-hot when you put it into 5 gal horse buckets before bedtime will be frozen on top by the early hours of the morning, that's *with* a thin layer of insulating 'jacket' around the bucket.

You can certainly try, but, there are some real technical problems involved.

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but, just trying to save people some money and aggravation,

Pat​

 

[Andi]

There are some newer styles of aquarium heaters that will automatically turn off if they are removed from the water.

The only thing I can see being a disadvantage is it won't work with the traditional waterers because there's nothing heating the water in the place where it is dispensed for them to drink. You could use one of those dog dishes that have the water supply, as long as where the water is accessible to drink is able to be circulated with the main body of water.

I may have to play with this idea this Winter. I have aquarium heaters and I'll have freezing temps.

 

[annek]

Has anyone tried using a bubbler? I know my brother uses one for his outside pond in Michigan during the winter and it keeps it free in a small area.

 

[Andi]

Quote:
Interesting idea! The bubbles would likely freak the chickens, so they would have to be directed away from where they drink. It may be just enough to circulate the water. I guess I could see it working in say an Illinois latitude and farther South. Not so sure it would work farther North. It gets pretty cold. A pond in Michigan has a lot of water that's helping insulate. Not much insulation to a dish.

 

[geosheets]

Quote:
Air bubblers do work... any circulation will keep it from completely freezing.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
The most effective thing would be to make a custom base for your waterer, probably with a cover for maybe half the periphery of the water 'trough' around the waterer too. And put the aquarium heater in a more or less sealed water reservoir *in* the base, so it is heating water UNDERNEATH (and separate from) the chicken waterer. The sides of the base would be well insulated; the top where the actual waterer sits would be thin and uninsulated, possibly even having the chicken waterer sit down (propped on blocks) onto the surface of the base water.

Essentially it would be a waterfilled aquarium-heater-run version of the cookie tin heated base that people make -- the water and aquarium heater making it less likely (uh, in principle) to accidentally set fire to, or melt, plastic waterers. Its advantage over putting the aquarium heater actually *in* the chicken waterer would be that there are few worries about accidentally overheating the chickens water and burning their mouths or discouraging drinking; there would be no concern about going dry as long as the base container is never spilled; and you could potentially heat a larger amount of water (just depends on size of base container) and insulate it better and therefore get longer-lasting nighttime warmth.

I am really not sure it would be worth the bother though, unless you would have to haul water *super* far to the coop.

The bubbler idea is interesting but I would be concerned about raising the humidity of the coop or of creating supercooled water that freezes to chickens' faces when they drink. I do not know how big a problem these things would or would not *be* in practice, they are just considerations that come to mind.

Pat

 

[Andi]

Quote:
The most effective thing would be to make a custom base for your waterer, probably with a cover for maybe half the periphery of the water 'trough' around the waterer too. And put the aquarium heater in a more or less sealed water reservoir *in* the base, so it is heating water UNDERNEATH (and separate from) the chicken waterer. The sides of the base would be well insulated; the top where the actual waterer sits would be thin and uninsulated, possibly even having the chicken waterer sit down (propped on blocks) onto the surface of the base water.

Essentially it would be a waterfilled aquarium-heater-run version of the cookie tin heated base that people make -- the water and aquarium heater making it less likely (uh, in principle) to accidentally set fire to, or melt, plastic waterers. Its advantage over putting the aquarium heater actually *in* the chicken waterer would be that there are few worries about accidentally overheating the chickens water and burning their mouths or discouraging drinking; there would be no concern about going dry as long as the base container is never spilled; and you could potentially heat a larger amount of water (just depends on size of base container) and insulate it better and therefore get longer-lasting nighttime warmth.

I am really not sure it would be worth the bother though, unless you would have to haul water *super* far to the coop.

Pat

I was thinking along the same lines last night of a water heated base. I couldn't think of how to construct it so the water would fit in it an have it scratch proof from chicken feet. Unless I can think of something simple, it would hardly be worth the bother of creating something. This wheel has already been invented, although it could be improved.

 

[Andi]

After more thought, this is what I think I'm going to do about the water dish issue.

I'm going to use a wide flat cooler bottle like the kind you freeze with water in it for your coolers. We have a bigger one that's about 6" X 12". I'm planning on sealing the cord of an aquarium heater through the cap so I can still get it open. Once that's assembled I'm going to insulate it in something (not sure what at this point) and use it as a platform for the water dish for the chickens (with a few customizations to secure the waterer). The heater I'm going to use will be one of the newer styles that will turn off automatically when its out of water and is shatter proof. I may use a different style dish that doesn't have 360° access and insulate the back also.