This is probably a dumb question. ....

[HDchicks]

We water our flock with a 3 gallon double walled drinker and was wondering if I were to put a hole in the top of it to use a submersible heater, will it still operate properly? Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[azygous]

You may have a good picture in your mind what your waterer looks like, but I don't. Is it like an Igloo insulated water cooler? How do the chickens drink from it? Does it have a basin or vertical or horizontal nipples?

I have Igloo 5 gallon water coolers that come with a spigot which comes out. I bought Bright Tap vertical nipple water sysyems that screw into the empty spigot hole. They work splendidly in summer, keeping the water fresh and cool, but freeze in winter.

Just this week I bought a very small, cheap one-temperature heating pad ($9 at Walmart) and tied it to the Bright Tap and wrapped water heater insulating blanket around the whole thing. It work great the past couple nights when it got down way below freezing here in Colorado.

Those tank heaters are very expensive to operate and really run up your electric bill.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Could you show a photo of the drinker you mean?

I agree it is hard to answer as there are so many drinkers.

The kind that you fill the top then invert it with the screwed on based will not work if you punch a hole in the top as it requires the vacuum created by the inversion and capillary action at the water seal held in place by that vaccum to work. To punch a hole in the top creates higher pressure and all the water will flow out like a drain at the bottom hole being pushed out by the air pressure above.

If you mean the metal type drinkers that have a silo shape top that fits over the upright filled bottom with attached base, that again relies on the vacuum created at the top by pressure and capillary action below to seal water flow. I'm pretty sure creating a hole in the top would also prevent that.

So if I understand your water type correctly, I don't think so.

But again a photo of the water type you mean would really help.

LofMc

 

[Zoomie]

I got one of these: http://www.strombergschickens.com/product/universal-electric-fount-heater/fount-heaters and I put my bucket on top of it. It works great! I've been very happy. Already we've had temps down below 20F and yet no ice. My bucket is plastic, too, so I'm very happy.

 

[GC-Raptor]

We water our flock with a 3 gallon double walled drinker and was wondering if I were to put a hole in the top of it to use a submersible heater, will it still operate properly? Thanks in advance for your input.

If your waterer looks like this

and you put a hole in the top, all the water will drain. It requires a vacuum. To test, push on the water release without the cover. GC