Winter water?

[CovertChickOps]

Here is a variation I am using that uses a juice can instead of cookie tin. You need some bricks or pavers to make a base for your waterer and the juice can (like the ones for pineapple and tomato juice) fits over the light bulb and electrical box to keep it dry in case you spill some water, or from rain or snow. I am also using a thermocube that will cut the light on only when it gets down to 35 degrees. Use a blue plastic electrical box as when I first tried a metal one, the GFCI outlet detected a ground and tripped.

 

[Momoftwo04]

I use a light fixture that is attached to the floor of my coop, 8 red bricks and a clay saucer. lay 4 of the bricks on their sides to form a square around the light fixture, stack the other 4 bricks on top of the first 4, put a 60 watt (for a 1 gallon plastic waterer. Might want a higher watt bulb for a bigger waterer) bulb in the fixture and top with the clay saucer. Place waterer in the clay saucer and plug in the light. The light will heat up the saucer just enough to keep the water from freezing. I got the idea on Youtube last year. Hope that helps. Good luck

 

[RedStarLady1207]

I have a 2 gallon galvanized waterer and there is a base made that fits it. You put the base on a large block or paver and plug it in and then sit the waterer on top. It is 100 watt. I bought both my 2 gallon waterer and the heater from McMurray's Hatchery online. I plan to use a good quality extension cord since I don't have electricity in my coop/run, but do have a GFI outlet on the back outdoor wall of my garage.

I bought one of those retractable hoses (100 feet) and a quick release hose attachment so I plan to hook that up to clean and refill the waterer outside and then put it back on the heater. Then take the hose back in and remove it from the frost free bib. I will drop the hose in a bucket and keep inside under my kitchen table so it doesn't freeze. If the hose becomes a hassle I'll just bring the waterer in and rinse it out in the kitchen sink every 2 or 3 days. I will check it daily however to ensure I still have water in it and the heater is doing its job.

I'm thinking I should buy a backup heater as they might get hard to find come real winter, in case the one I have fails.

If the power goes out I will bring the waterer in twice daily to remove any ice and fill with very warm water until power comes back on. This is the best I can do and seems like it will be simple.

I also have fish ponds so ice in winter is an issue there as well. Airstones will keep water from totally freezing but tubes might not be chicken friendly. A massive pump keeps my bigger pond from completely freezing over, but would not work on chickens Chickens are such busy bodies so I plan to just have a very small part of the extension cord inside where they can get at it, and I might put that part inside a short piece of PVC so they can't peck it.

 

[themadchicken]

Does anyone know were to buy a thermo cube Tc-3 in the Utah or Salt lake county area? I use the cookie tin method to keep my waters from freezing and was not aware of these cool little plugs. I am looking for the one with 2 plugs since i have 2 watering cans that i need to keep from freezing. It takes a lot of power to keep the lights running 24/7.

 

[CovertChickOps]

Amazon has them for $12.50, which is as cheap as you will find them anywhere. I also know Home Depot and Do-It hardware stores stock them.

 

[katalyst]

Heeeey, another Minnesotan!

We've had our flock over two winters now.... I really recommend a heated bucket. We installed a small clip to the wall of the coop to clip the handle to so it wouldn't get tipped over. Its about 2 gallons and it works really well. I'm thinking it was around 20 bucks, but it was a great investment.

It does get real chilly around here, though, so if you're using heat lamps for heat I'd make sure one is in relatively close proximity to the water. Just as an extra precaution. Also, it can depend on what type of coop you have. Ours is insulated with the cheapest foam we could find, but it makes a difference once the temps drop below zero.

Hope this helps!

 

[Cochaura]

We got a heated dog water bowl - it's about one gallon. There's a thermostat built in that shuts it off if its 40 degrees or higher. For our 12 chickens, it was enough water for them until we got home from work. I did not wash the bowl daily with soap and water - we usually head out to the coop with a gallon jug full of water with ACV and a towel. We dump out any remaining water in the bowl, wipe it out good with the towel, and pour the water from the gallon jug in it. Very quick, easy, and minimizes running back and forth.

 

[Minniechickmama]

If I only had one pen to water and these dog bowls were big enough, that would be fine, but I have 9 large breeding pens on the floor and 9 more bantam pens on the wall, and I need something where I don't have to spend half a day just cleaning out waterers and carrying buckets in and out. That is why I am trying out the PVC nipple waterers with the aquarium heaters. I think I found just the right one for this task too. I will definitely share my experience with them once they are all installed and tested (when it drops cold enough to freezer inside my coop.

 

[Hedwig]

I have a water heater that sits under the metal 2 gallon waterer. It doesnt get too hot so i dont worry about my chickens getting burnt. Also, the core runs outside the coop and they cant get at the wire and get eletricuted.

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: Hmm the only aquarium heater I know of is the ones that clip on the side of the aquarium so I didnt think I could put that in the pvc pipe since the heater & the elec cord would have to be submerged in water to get to the bottom of the *L*

I did find a link for wrapping heat wire around a bucket & then put inisde another bucket & it would stop the water from freezing. I just dont know if nipples would freeze. If I could wrap that around the PVC then cover it with something that would be so much less work. Have to think on it tho