Water heater

[lyleg5895]

It's getting colder and waterers are starting to freeze. I've tried the commercial heated waterers in the past and I don't like them. The cords are too short and always manage to find there way into some sort of moisture and short out. I even had the cord melt once. This year I've rigged up a bucket style waterer and was going to use a bucket heater like the one pictured until I read the description. It says "people can't be in water while heater is working" and hints at potential electric shock. But it advertises using it for livestock waterers. Has anyone used one of these? Do I need to be worried about it shocking my chickens?
P.S. the one I'm looking at also comes with a thermostat

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I think a regular small bird bath heater is a better option.

 

[wamtazlady]

You do not want to heat water exactly. You only want to keep it from freezing. I use this deicer. It turns on at 35 degrees and off again at 40 or 45 degrees. It is only on long enough to keep the water from freezing. I got a new deicer this year as the old one finally died. However, I got 4 years of use out of the old deicer and I live in NW Montana where temperatures in the -20s are not unusual. My birds have never been without thawed water.

 

[Chebird]

I just go out every morning with a piture of hot water and pour a little onto the frozen water. It works well.

 

[Peggysaurus]

We have been using a water heater for the last two winters now. The one we have has a small cord, but we use an extension cord so it can plug into the outlet. It works really well and we have had no problems with the cord melting. I really recommend it.

 

[jreardon1918]

The cord on our stock tank heater is a bit short. We tie wrap it to keep it out of the way. We plug it into a power strip. That is plugged into a GFCI outlet. It has worked well for 3+ years.

 

[lyleg5895]

You do not want to heat water exactly. You only want to keep it from freezing. I use this deicer. It turns on at 35 degrees and off again at 40 or 45 degrees. It is only on long enough to keep the water from freezing. I got a new deicer this year as the old one finally died. However, I got 4 years of use out of the old deicer and I live in NW Montana where temperatures in the -20s are not unusual. My birds have never been without thawed water.

That's the one I ended up getting. Of course, as soon as I ordered it the temperature jumped to 50° so I haven't bothered installing it yet. Gotta love midwest weather.

 

[lyleg5895]

We have been using a water heater for the last two winters now. The one we have has a small cord, but we use an extension cord so it can plug into the outlet. It works really well and we have had no problems with the cord melting. I really recommend it.

I've used those in the past and I can't stand them. The last two I have bought shorted out. The problem is the cord is too short. No matter how on top of adding fresh bedding I am, there's always some amount of moisture near the waterer that causes a short. Plus the girls like to mess with the cord which is worrisome. They work great as regular waterers in the summer but I'll never use them in the winter again.

 

[wamtazlady]

That's the one I ended up getting. Of course, as soon as I ordered it the temperature jumped to 50° so I haven't bothered installing it yet. Gotta love midwest weather.

Hope it works out well for you. I love mine. My waterer is actually a 13 gallon clear plastic tote with lid, the deicer, and horizontal nipples. I use the larger container as I will be turning 70 this winter. I had to figure a way to keep the birds in water while not having to go out to tend them every day. When we get 2 feet of snow I just can not go outside for fear of falling and not being able to get back up again. For my 5 birds I have 2 25 pound feeders and the 13 gallons of water. If need be the birds can be left for a few weeks. I do keep a camera watching the food and water to make sure all is well. If winter gets too nasty or my COPD acts up I can pay someone to come here every couple weeks to fill up the feeders and waterer. Frozen eggs are cooked and fed to the dogs or back to the birds.