Watering the birds in winter? Water Freezing........

[secuono]

I think you should bring the birds into the house for the winter. Or, you can look into the complete solar fence kits in a box and find a tech/electrical swavy friend who can figure a way to wire it safely.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
I use mine the same way and they don't get any messier than the large, rubber black feed pan I was using.

A solar charger is your best bet~with heated waterers for your solution~ and they only cost about $100 to $130 but they last a long time and can be re-used for other animal projects.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

You need a deep cycle marine battery, not a car battery and an invertor, the whole system can become rather complicated, but it's something you can take with you, and use later...but not at all cheep

 

[mrachael]

Here's an idea. For summer, I have a hand made gravity waterer made with an oil pan and a 5 gallon plastic bucket that comes with a pourable lid. Drill several holes about 1/2 " up from the bottom of the bucket and place it in the oil pan. Unscrew the pourable lid and fill by hose. Once full, if you quickly screw the lid back on, it creates a vacuum, and the water will come out the bottom holes only until it reaches the top of the oil pan. Works like a charm for us. Now, for winter, I was planning to make a smaller version of this, utilizing one of the plug in heated dog bowls, and possible a 2L soda bottle or some other type of container that has a pourable sealing lid. Should work, right?

 

[JoePa]

Here's what you may want to do - get a deep cycle battery - the kind we have in our fishing boat to run the trolling motor and in our RV - then get a metal heater that has a light bulb socket inside of it - or make your own using a old cake or cookie can with a cover - insert a light bulb socket (s) into the cake pan and have wires coming outside - then go to a RV store and get yourself a couple 12 volt bulbs - they have different wattage bulbs - 25 and 50 W - run the wires to the 12 V battery and your good to go - the bulb will heat the water - you could make a test run at home to see how long the battery lasts and if the wattage is high enough to keep the water from freezing - and how long the battery charge lasts - you could get a extra battery and hook them together (in parellel) to make the charge last longer - every once in awhile you will need to recharge the battery(s) so buy a charger - the deep cycle batteries can be a little heavy so hoping your capable of handling them - there are a number of ways to solve your problem but the others that I can think of would require you to be knowledgeable with propane, thermostats etc. so I won't get into those - give the batteries a try - if you can't find the 12V bulbs you can get them from www.pplmotorhomes.com - 1.800.755.4775 - good luck - sounds like fun - JoePa

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I am also in central VA, in winter I keep my waterer high in the coop (on a shelf at roost level). Their body heat keeps it from freezing completely over. I also carry hot water to the coop everyday, and keep black rubber pans outside in the run. The sun warms the rubber and keeps them from freezong over.

 

[t/m]

Quote:
Is there a difference in battery life depending on the temp? Thanks!

 

[larsonll]

Have you thought about "Solar Sippers"? I see very mixed reviews on the wild bird ones, but none about the poultry ones. Has anyone used these? Solar Sipper also sells immersion heaters powered by batteries.

 

[jimpad]

i use the 3 gal heated waterer for a long time and really love them winter and summer fron ts

 

[Scotty16]

JoePa,
I think you have put me on the right track! I pulled out a 10 year old deep cycle trolling motor battery from the shed tonight. I had a replacement brake/turning light for a small boat trailer. I charged the battery for a few hours, it never really took the charge.......

Well I hooked up the 12 volt brake bulb to the battery and it has been burning for 4 hours. The bulb is a higher wattage than I would need to set up under their waterer, and the battery is crappy. I am thinking two new deep cycle marine batteries from Walmart, a 25 watt 12v bulb and a couple of Solar trickle charges will get me through a 24 hour period if I just cannot get out to the farm on a particularly cold day. I am also insulating the coop and keeping it draft free.

I will run some tests to see how long I can keep a bulb burning, should be interesting!!!

larsonll,
I ordered a solar sipper and the solar water warmer. The water warmer comes with a unit that runs on 8-"D" batteries. It runs for 8 hours just on the "D" batteries (12v DC). I am thinking this could be modified to run on the deep cycle 12v batteries for much longer than the "D" batteries. I think with 20 chickens in a insulated coop, deep beeding and the "mild" Virginia winters I will find a solution.

Will keep you all posted!

Thanks again for all the input.

Scotty