Winter water heater

[CKfarm22]

Hey y’all, I live in New Jersey where the winters can get pretty brutal with snow and cold temperatures. Right now our water system is a 2 gallon bucket with a hose connected to a piece of pvc pipe with water nipples coming from it. I’m wondering if anyone has any advice for keeping the water heated in the winter time. Any heaters that could go on the bucket or in the bucket?

 

[3KillerBs]

If you search the articles you'll find quite a few ways to keep a waterer from freezing.

After looking at the costs of everything I'd need to make one myself I decided that I will probably get one of these from Premier 1 because it's only a little more expensive and my time has value too.

https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/heated-poultry-waterer?cat_id=141

 

[wamtazlady]

Fall is when so many people start to worry about their winter water system. You'll see lots of people writing then. I live in NW Montana where temperatures get into the -20s F. I use a plastic tote with lid, horizontal nipples, and a 250 watt stock tank deicer that is rated for use in plastic. The deicer turns on at about 35 degrees and turns off again at about 40 so that it only keeps the water thawed, not warm. The nipples are attached to the tote itself. I only have a half dozen chickens so the water only needs filled every couple weeks or so. My chickens have never been out of water due to freezing.

Using nipples attached to PVC pipe adds a bit of a problem. If you wanted to keep that system you might have to add a circulating pump to keep the water in the pipe from freezing. Of course, that all depends on your winter temperatures.

They do make bucket heaters. You can also buy a heated bucket. Most feed type stores will have these available.

 

[Sally PB]

https://www.farmandfleet.com/produc...Ikt6f7eO28gIVV8DICh29egQOEAQYBSABEgIAvvD_BwE#

I got this at TSC last winter. I put about 4" of water in it, and put my regular water bowl in that. I wanted to be sure that the chickens wouldn't dump over their water, and they never did.

I had this out in the run, as I don't want water inside the coop (moisture, spillage). I would take out a gallon of fairly warm water in the morning and fill the heated bowl and the water bowl. The only time I saw any ice forming was when it was single digits for a high temp.

When we had days with below zero temps, I put a bowl of clean snow in the coop. I would open the pop door and check every hour or so to see if the birds came out. Then I checked the bowl of snow, and sure enough, peck marks. They ate snow instead of going outside for water.

I do keep food in the coop during the day, but take it in at night.

 

[blackdog043]

If you interested in making a heated waterer, below is a link to my article. It's the same as what @wamtazlady explained in post #3.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ock-tank-deicer-and-horizontal-nipples.74609/

 

[CKfarm22]

Fall is when so many people start to worry about their winter water system. You'll see lots of people writing then. I live in NW Montana where temperatures get into the -20s F. I use a plastic tote with lid, horizontal nipples, and a 250 watt stock tank deicer that is rated for use in plastic. The deicer turns on at about 35 degrees and turns off again at about 40 so that it only keeps the water thawed, not warm. The nipples are attached to the tote itself. I only have a half dozen chickens so the water only needs filled every couple weeks or so. My chickens have never been out of water due to freezing.

Using nipples attached to PVC pipe adds a bit of a problem. If you wanted to keep that system you might have to add a circulating pump to keep the water in the pipe from freezing. Of course, that all depends on your winter temperatures.

They do make bucket heaters. You can also buy a heated bucket. Most feed type stores will have these available.

You can kind of see it in this picture here. We were thinking about getting a heater that just goes right into the water. But i see how it may cause a problem with the pvc pipe. We may just end up getting a heated bucket for the winter!

 

[CKfarm22]

https://www.farmandfleet.com/produc...Ikt6f7eO28gIVV8DICh29egQOEAQYBSABEgIAvvD_BwE#

I got this at TSC last winter. I put about 4" of water in it, and put my regular water bowl in that. I wanted to be sure that the chickens wouldn't dump over their water, and they never did.

I had this out in the run, as I don't want water inside the coop (moisture, spillage). I would take out a gallon of fairly warm water in the morning and fill the heated bowl and the water bowl. The only time I saw any ice forming was when it was single digits for a high temp.

When we had days with below zero temps, I put a bowl of clean snow in the coop. I would open the pop door and check every hour or so to see if the birds came out. Then I checked the bowl of snow, and sure enough, peck marks. They ate snow instead of going outside for water.

I do keep food in the coop during the day, but take it in at night.

That heated what bowl is a good idea too, i didn’t think of that

 

[blackdog043]

Seeing what you have set up, you will definitely need something else for winter. Make sure all of the water is out of the PVC before winter or it may crack.

 

[kerbotx]

You might also be interested in a Thermo-Cube - basically it's an outlet extender, with a thermostat, so it only comes on when you really need it. There are different temperature ranges available, to suit your climate.

 

[Sally PB]

You might also be interested in a Thermo-Cube - basically it's an outlet extender, with a thermostat, so it only comes on when you really need it. There are different temperature ranges available, to suit your climate.

What a great idea. I'll have to look into that too. Thanks!