Waterbed heater to prevent water from freezing in the coop

[hpierce88]

Anyone ever try using a waterbed heater in the coop to keep it above freezing inside so their water doesn't freeze? I had made an enclosure in a double-door closet for a python years ago and used a waterbed heater in one half of the sub-flooring as her heat source. It had a digital temp control which allowed me to turn it up/down with the click of a button depending on the ambient air temp. I'm just switching over my coop from a big, space-hogging, hanging bell waterer to a 5gal. jug with horizontal nipples which will sit on a shelf mounted to the wall in order to give them a bit more space inside. Trying to think ahead in my design to make it as cold-weather friendly as possible now because lugging water back and forth every day is not something I want to do in 2 ft of snow.

Thanks.
Heather