Water de-icer... has anyone used a pond de-icer?

[SeaChick]

Like this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Farm-Innovation...ryZ61586QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Looking for the best/cheapest way to keep the water from freezing during the winter.

Stacey

 

[JudyMcKinn]

Well, will your chickens be drinking out of a pond, or a very large body of water, like a tank? If not, I think this will be too large. We have had and used waterer heaters like this in our cattle tanks, but I can't think how you would use one for a chicken waterer. I hang a heat bulb over my waterer. Make sure it is VERY secure, tie or wire it to a nail that is securely in a rafter, or such. Don't just clamp it on with the clamp that is provided, as if a chicken jumped on or against it, it might fall down and catch the shavings, straw, or whatever bedding you use, on fire.

 

[SeaChick]

Thanks Judy- That's just the kind of feedback I was looking for! I guess the pond de-icer is out, since we'll have a pretty small waterer for our proposed 4-5 hens.


I read in one "how to raise chickens" book (from the 70's) to use a regular aquarium heater (like for tropical fish). I have one of those. Wonder if that would work?

Otherwise, my plan #2 is the heat lamp as you suggest. My only concern about that is that the henhouse is very small (maybe 4x5 and 5 feet tall) and I was worried about the water spilling and getting the bedding wet. I was thinking that maybe having the feeder and waterer outside the henhouse, but under a covered area of the run, with a heater to keep the water unfrozen, would keep the inside of the henhouse drier and healthier in winter. But I don't know if the hens would like going outside to eat and drink in Maine winters.....

Stacey

 

[JudyMcKinn]

Well, we are getting into stuff here that i am no expert on, for sure, but I would be sort of worried about an extension cord outside in bad weather. I think there are "outdoor cords" so you might check into them. We had an extension cord once--the big orange ones that are supposed to be sturdy, to run power tools, etc, on, and hubby left it stretched out inthe yard where he had been working, as he intended to work there again the next day. He left the one end plugged into the plug-in in the garage, and the other end just laying in the grass. That night, it rained, and the water got into the end of the cord, burned out the cord, and ran all the way to the plug-in, burning it out, also. A friend of ours that is an electrician said we were lucky it didn't burn the house down.
What kind of a waterer do you have? Doesn't seem likely it would spill. Maybe you could set it in a corner and brace it a bit with a wire loop that you drop over it, nailed to the wall on each side of the waterer. I think I would want my feed inside, also, so it doesn't get damp and mouldy, which would be very bad for the chickens. If you just have 4 or 5 hens, just one of the little round "chick feeders" that screw onto a half gallon jar would hold feed for 2 or 3 days, wouldn't it?
Hopefully someone else here will join with some advice from their experience.

 

[allen wranch]

There are also water heaters that go underneath the waterers to keep them from freezing. Some people make their own using cinder blocks and a light bulb (now that would scare me !)