Washingtonians

[itsren]

I think they are, because the submersible water bucket heaters I wanted to get a month ago but didn't because I thought I had plenty of time before it started freezing went from $25 to $40.

and I need THREE of them! I guess I'll see how this winter goes, and maybe get them when the price hopefully drops back down. I just checked again and the price is the same.

Oh I'm sorry! That's a huge price jump.

I hadn't really paid much attention to Amazon because I'm not one who will usually pay for shipping since the cost of shipping frequently makes an item more expensive than you can find locally. Then we discovered a few months into an accidental "Prime" membership, that my husband had initiated "Prime" on his Kindle without realizing it. It was too late to cancel and get our money back, so we started price-checking items on Amazon. Now we find we order stuff we would have never thought to buy online through Amazon. But, in the process, we're discovering that if you don't buy something at a price you like right away, it might not be that same price a day later.

 

[itsren]

The time to look for heated dog dishes is in the spring. I got my thirty something dollar one for $7.

That's awesome!

 

[itsren]

Do we need heated water dishes in Seattle?? Or is it a "just in case" thing...?

Right now my only watering system is a nipple system where the water comes out through a hose and pipes. If we get freezing temperatures, the likelihood of the pipes to freeze are pretty high. When the weather turns to freezing, I plan to remove the nipple system and switch to a dish. I figured if I'm going to buy another waterer for winter use only, I might as well buy a heated one, so I don't have to rush out and buy a 3rd watering system if we get some crazy ice storm coming through.

 

[VelvettFog]

Quote:
They make heated tape that you can wrap around the pipes - might be an option if the length of pipe/hose is short enough that it is cost effective.

 

[KMHunter]

Quote: I think they can do fine for a little more than 48, but if there are no more pips then I woul take it out. I know it is hard to watch the baby/ies walk all over the eggs but they do fine. I had 13 chicks hatch and the first ones out were all over the others, even when they were zipping and actually pushing out of the egg. I think watching the whole process is harder than giving birth myself! I was much more stressed and lost a lot of sleep just checking the bator. But the one peice of advice that Tamara gave me that I almost 100% followed was don't open the bator. And I say almost because my son knew what to look for and said that there were no more pips and opened it up to take out all the chicks. It turned out there was one more, but the pip was just in a spot that ws really hard to see. I am pretty sure it got shrink wrapped and died. I would have helped it out, but I didn't get home in time.

We were both sad and learned a big lesson.
I do like hatching in egg cartons. The eggs are more stable during the hatching process.

I just read your post again and it says you had an egg turner? Then did you take them out of the turner and lay them on the bottom of the bator?
I have read somewhere that it is better to either just turn off the egg turner and hatch them in that or put them in egg cartons. I am not sure about hatching them in the egg turner, but the thought was that they will have better luck pipping in the right place if the postion of the egg is kept relatively the same. I have only hatched eggs myself once, but I had a good teacher/support person. Thanks Tamara!

 

[KMHunter]

Quote:
They make heated tape that you can wrap around the pipes - might be an option if the length of pipe/hose is short enough that it is cost effective.
Or if you llike the nipple waterers make a 3 or 5 gallon one with the push in nipples and hang it with a fish tank heater in it. I got one and am planning on getting two more so that all my bucket waterers have one. The waterer would be cheap, but the in tank heater can be like $25-$30. Just an idea

I like how clean the water stays with the nipple system.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote: Also PLEASE EVERYBODY keep in mind that chickens read from a different set of books than any of us are ever allowed to see. Because of that they will probably not do things the way we tend to expect. Consider the books as a rough guide. Also most (NOT ALL) info that any of us may share is mostly based on what we have found to work for each of us. What works for me down here on 13 acres may not work for those on city lots or for those on the other side of the state. Does that make my ways the right way NO nor does it make the ways of others wrong. Just as with personal beliefs THERE IS NO right or wrong and NO REASON TO PUT OTHERS DOWN FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVE IN!!

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Do we need heated water dishes in Seattle?? Or is it a "just in case" thing...?

That is a matter of IF you want to deal with frozen water fonts or not. When we get those few sdays that they actually freeze.

 

[itsren]

They make heated tape that you can wrap around the pipes - might be an option if the length of pipe/hose is short enough that it is cost effective.

Or if you llike the nipple waterers make a 3 or 5 gallon one with the push in nipples and hang it with a fish tank heater in it. I got one and am planning on getting two more so that all my bucket waterers have one. The waterer would be cheap, but the in tank heater can be like $25-$30. Just an idea

I like how clean the water stays with the nipple system.

Both are great ideas. Thanks! I might try both of them if I can find a heater cheap enough.

Dave - is "heated tape" the words I should be googling? My hose and pipe length are both very short. The pipe is connected to a bucket via a short washing machine hose. I thought about using pipe insulation for a while - then realized the chicken would probably eat the pipe insulation. I don't want that.

Early this morning I went out and checked the flow of the water system. It was very slow - so I'm guessing that I'm dealing with some freezing already. I took the system apart, scrubbed it out and filled with lukewarm water. Then I added a water bowl to the run as a back-up.

 

[VelvettFog]

Quote:
Google -- heat tape -- lots of choices