Watering your chickens in the winter

[jballard1976]

I do not have electricity in my chicken coop. I have researched ways to keep the water from freezing during the Winter months. I stumbled across Submersible Aquarium Heater that floats in the water.

Has anyone else used one of these?

Obviously, it doesn't harm fish but wonder if It would harm my chickens. I just don't want them to get electrocuted.

Any and all ideas are wanted...

Thank you
Jennifer

 

[Ridgerunner]

Jennifer, welcome to the forum, glad you joined.

Roughly where are you located? What kind of cold are you talking about?

 

[jballard1976]

South of Nashville about 45 minutes North of Huntsville AL. It gets in the teens at times but mostly just 20's

 

[ChickenLeg]

South of Nashville about 45 minutes North of Huntsville AL. It gets in the teens at times but mostly just 20's

Hey Jennifer, I live in Knoxville right now. I have family in Jackson, Chattanooga, and Huntsville, I usta live in Nashville and traveled to Columbia a lot for classes. So I'm a close neighbor I'll be back in Jackson TN full time after christmas. I use metal bowls in the winter time instead of chicken waterers. Since I cant heat the waterers either, the metal bowls are easy to empty and refill. I usually keep the bowls in the sun and only have to refill a second time in the afternoon if its just a real cold day. Cheers

 

[jballard1976]

Well Hello Neighbor,
What about the black rubber bowls? I hear they are good too, thank you for sharing your knowledge.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I do not have electricity in my chicken coop. I have researched ways to keep the water from freezing during the Winter months. I stumbled across Submersible Aquarium Heater that floats in the water.

Has anyone else used one of these?

Obviously, it doesn't harm fish but wonder if It would harm my chickens. I just don't want them to get electrocuted.

Any and all ideas are wanted...

Thank you
Jennifer

I use them here in Western Washington

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'd expect you to occasionally get into single digits. I've always liked that area for some reason. I knew some people in college from Tullahoma and Winchester. My roommate at college was from Columbia. He taught me to water ski in the mighty Duck River.

Which aquarium heater are you looking at? The only ones I know of have to be plugged in and you say you don't have electricity.

Since you are not that cold, this might work for you. I use black rubber bowls you can get at Tractor Supply. Since they are rubber they will not break when ice freezes in them. You can knock the ice out when you refill them when they do freeze. If you can set them in the sun (assuming the sun is shining) they will pretty much stay thawed all day. It's the way I did it up in North Arkansas where it is a bit colder.

 

[R2elk]

Alternate method to prevent water freezing

No electricity required.

 

[flyin-lowe]

I assume you are planning to run electricity? You say you have no electricity then ask about using aquarium heaters which need electricity.
I have owned a lot of aquariums in my life and most aquarium heaters are glass and not real sturdy. I would not trust them with chickens, it wouldn't take much for them to crack one. I am not sure what kind of glass they are but I have had them crack from cold water hitting them when they are hot.

 

[wamtazlady]

If you are willing to find a way to get electricity out there and use an aquarium heater, why not go one step farther and get a stock tank deicer or bird bath deicer that is meant to be outside and keep water thawed?

There are problems to using an aquarium heater. First the water is a higher temperature than needed to just keep it thawed. This means more electricity it used. The other thing is that an aquarium heater was not made to use in cold weather. It was made to use in a house that is warm and just warms up the water a little more for tropical fish.

A stock tank deicer costs about the same as a good aquarium heater. It is meant to use in cold weather. It turns on at about 35 degrees and turns itself off at about 40 degrees. I have one that is in its 4th year of use and doing fine. Mine rests on the bottom of my waterer rather than floating on top.