Watering your chickens in the winter

[Relleoms]

If Premier 1 would make a 5 or 6 gallon heated nipple bucket, I'd absolutely just buy a couple. I can't see spending the money on less than 5 gallons for myself though, half the idea is that I won't have to haul water daily.

How many chickens do you have? I don’t think my flock drinks enough; once a week I refill this and it’s maybe only 1/4 empty. I do have another waterer though, and I feed them wet feed in the morning, and they’re all still alive...so I guess they get what they need! Oh, I only have 13. Maybe a total of 2 gallons a week?

 

[Mosey2003]

How many chickens do you have? I don’t think my flock drinks enough; once a week I refill this and it’s maybe only 1/4 empty. I do have another waterer though, and I feed them wet feed in the morning, and they’re all still alive...so I guess they get what they need! Oh, I only have 13. Maybe a total of 2 gallons a week?

I have 12 grown pullets and a cock and they go through nearly a gallon a day, more when it's hot. I don't wet my feed, you're probably saving yourself a fair bit of drinking that way.

 

[wamtazlady]

If Premier 1 would make a 5 or 6 gallon heated nipple bucket, I'd absolutely just buy a couple. I can't see spending the money on less than 5 gallons for myself though, half the idea is that I won't have to haul water daily.

The reason I love my 10 gallon tote set up so much is that it only needs filled once a week for a dozen birds. I am lucky to have the heated well house close by. Use one of those shrinking type hoses and i can hook up to the faucet in there when the birds need watered.

 

[No More Empty Nest]

This is a different question on the same topic. It's my first winter with chickens. We can get pretty cold here, sometimes -10 with rare times to -15 or lower. I have a heated waterer which is working fine so far down to 20 degrees.
It says to not use it outdoors. Is it bad to have it inside the coop? Will it increase moisture?

 

[paneubert]

This is a different question on the same topic. It's my first winter with chickens. We can get pretty cold here, sometimes -10 with rare times to -15 or lower. I have a heated waterer which is working fine so far down to 20 degrees.
It says to not use it outdoors. Is it bad to have it inside the coop? Will it increase moisture?

You have a heated waterer that is not supposed to be used outdoors? What is it meant to be used for then? Inside your house when it is below freezing as a water bowl for your cat? I don't get it! Haha.

 

[wamtazlady]

I am also confused by this indoor heated waterer.

 

[No More Empty Nest]

You have a heated waterer that is not supposed to be used outdoors? What is it meant to be used for then? Inside your house when it is below freezing as a water bowl for your cat? I don't get it! Haha.

Lol, It's not supposed to be used outside the coop. They consider the coop inside, away from rain and snow.

 

[wamtazlady]

To answer your first question about your waterer, whether it adds to the moisture in the coop depends on what type of waterer it is. If it is like an open font or bowl type waterer, yes, it will add moisture. Vertical nipples tend to be leaky so would also add moisture. Horizontal nipples would probably not add moisture to the coop if they are attached to a container with a lid.

 

[KarennFallon]

outside

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.

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.

We are in Fallon, Nevada and won't have night temps above freezing until Spring so we used a birdbath heater last year in our five gallon buckets with nipples. The nipples often froze and because we put a splash of ACV in their water, the heater corroded. We will probably go to bowls this winter and back to the nippled buckets in Spring. Just one thing to consider, yes electricity required. Our waterers were outside, because the vertical nipples in the bottom of the bucket do drip a lot when the hen drinks, definitely not for inside the coop.

 

[Mosey2003]

We are in Fallon, Nevada and won't have night temps above freezing until Spring so we used a birdbath heater last year in our five gallon buckets with nipples. The nipples often froze and because we put a splash of ACV in their water, the heater corroded. We will probably go to bowls this winter and back to the nippled buckets in Spring. Just one thing to consider, yes electricity required.

Were you using horizontal or vertical nipples? If you still wanted to use a nipple bucket, the horizontal aren't supposed to freeze...