Watering during the winter in New England

[ValerieJ]

Yes seriously! As long as your ends are protected and you use the proper stuff, it shouldn't be a problem.
I run a 12 gauge 100' extension cord to my coop. I have a covered power inlet on the side of my coop that the cord gets plugged into and the end from the house gets plugged into a covered GFCI outlet. I only use power in my coop for a couple months, when my water could freeze, so I saw no point in running permanent power to it.

This is exactly what I did the first year, only I needed two hundred feet so I had to use 2 cords. Still with proper protection I never had a problem. Then we ran electricity out there, but I still use extension cords to bring it to the coops where and when needed. All connectors are inside an electrical box or inside the coop. It's safe. One time when I connected two inside the run in the snow to have electricity in a couple places, it burned out the connector. It did not draw enough electricity to start a fire, it just burned out. I wouldn't do that again, because those cords are expensive. That's why we ran electricity out there.

If you don't want to do this and you have the time, the small dishes of water work pretty well. I change them 3-5 times a day with very warm water and they do pretty well. But then our temps only get down to 20's or rarely teens. So, maybe not an option for you. They love the warm water in the winter, btw.

 

[Folly's place]

Changing out the water three times daily will work, and it gets old fast.
Closing up the coop to 'conserve heat' is a bad plan, because the birds need ventilation, and the heat they generate rises, doesn't really help the waters very much.
Over time, and as our flock expanded, we ran water to an all-weather hydrant at the coop, and had electricity run out there too. WONDERFUL! Also, not insanely expensive, up to code, makes our farm insurance company happy, and life is so much better all year.
Mary