water during winter

[twilightgecko]

hi everyone
want to pick your brains
i have always used the steel gravity waterers and in winter it sits on a big heated base.. BUT, mine have rusted.. bought new one, rusted again.. meaning i have to change out the water daily.. for outside, i changed water out constantly since i didn't have another heated base..

this year, i am trying something new.. plastic heated dog water bowls.. put one in the coop and one in the run/outside enclosure.. today in 25 degree temps they stayed thawed.. tonight will be a good test, it's already 12 degrees here..

what are your thoughts tho on using this open water design? sure, i may have to scoop off a few shavings and changing it will be much easier..

 

[Relleoms]

I had a heated dog bowl last year and it worked great, however, it was too big and they could walk through it. So...I’m trying to figure out a way to create a solid middle (if that makes sense). I have a cool whip container filled with rocks in there now, but it’s not tall enough. Maybe 2 cool whip containers? I guess it depends what size bow you have. Anyways, I’ve also found it needs to be raised off the ground a bit or it becomes full of stuff quickly. I think 2-12” paving stones stacked will work perfectly. I also have 2 buckets with horizontal nipples, it just seems some prefer getting a big drink. Gotta watch the combs & wattles, too. I don’t want them getting wet & freezing. Long story short, I’ve got a work in progress here, and I’d love ideas!

 

[llombardo]

So far this is working ok. I do come home at lunch to make sure it's still working everyday and to vlean if out. . I watched the rooster and he was keeping the waddles out of it. It is on 3 12x12 paving stones. I also put a heated water bottle in the coop and they are using that too.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have always watered out of buckets and rubber pans. Roosters with big wattles can get some frostbite, but I don't really see problems with the hens.

 

[New2Chicks97]

We have heated dog bowls. This is the first winter with chickens so hopefully this works. I have a meatal waterer as well but those heated bases for them are so expensive and honestly my chickens don’t mind drinking out of a bowl. I will just keep an eye on our cockerel and make sure he doesn’t get any permanent damage.

They did get a small layer of ice one morning when it was really cold but haven’t yet again and they are outside in the runs. If it becomes a problem then I might get my husband to help me build an insulated box for the water dish to sit in. I fill them each morning with fresh water anyway so dumping the ice isn’t that big of a deal if it happens occasionally.

 

[Birdinhand]

I got totally burned out constantly cleaning open water bottles so I switched to nipple waterers and got a cattle water heater and it worked great through last winters. https://www.amazon.com/Allied-Preci...-fkmr0&keywords=heated+bucket+poultry+drinker

 

[CannedMonster]

We use 2 gallon heated buckets.
It’s too deep for the birds to step in but our teenage birds sometimes stand on the edge to drink but it’s never been a problem.
The overnight lows have been in the low 20s.

 

[Acre4Me]

We bought horizontal nipples and screwed them onto the bottom couple of inches of a 5 gallon bucket. We cut out a cord access port into the top of the bucket and added the lid. We first tried a bucket de-icer, but neither worked- lots of ice on the first night/mornings of 20-25F. So, we bought a bucket heater that gets submerged in the water and sits on the bottom of the bucket close to the nipples. It is working great.

 

[Callender Girl]

I have used a smaller heated dog bowl with one of the one-quart plastic, two-piece chicken waterers wedged inside. It works okay until it gets really, really cold -- then the water in the upright part of the waterer sometimes freezes here in frigid northern Iowa.

In the meantime, I use an array of electric (PRICEY) chicken waterers -- which replaced my rusted tin DIY bases -- inside the coops, black rubber dishes that I can stomp the ice out of repeatedly during the day (because nothing stops a goose determined to undermine my best plans) and a large heated dog dish for the ducks. However, the free-range Orp and Faverolles like to stop by the duck area for warm drinks, and there haven't been any adverse effects on anyone.

 

[twilightgecko]

thanks everyone who's chimed in.. see, i never thought of their wattles dipping into the water.. my dog bowl is raised up perhaps 5 inches.. i know a lot of people don't even put water in the their coops, but my birds look for it, as soon as they go in, they grab a drink and eat a little before bed.. also, it's 16 degrees out right now, i'm not rushing to let them out of the coop.. it's small, but that means it's warmer..

i have my old gravity waterer [albeit rusty] and heated base as a back up..