Winter water?

[coop410silkies]

Not often! But only because I have the pipe buried in the bottom of the nest box, rigid insulation around it and only the pin of the nipple sticking out below the plywood bottom. AND there is a small reptile waterfall pump in the cooler that continuously circulates the water through the pipe AND a stock tank heater in the cooler (heats to 40F I think) when the temps are about 15F or higher, replaced with a submersible aquarium heater set to 70F when it is colder. That works to about -20F. The saddle nipples have a WHOLE lot more exposed plastic than "in the bucket" vertical or horizontal nipples so it is harder to keep them from freezing. Lots of distance between the water in the vessel and the pin.

My situation is different than a lot of people's. There is an ancient (like pre Civil War ancient) post and beam bank barn with a lower shed section added probably in the early 1900's. It has "issues" but isn't yet falling down  The chicken coop is a repurposed horse stall about halfway down the shed section. The girls have the entire 70'x8' "alley" and the 2 other unused stalls as their indoor run so it isn't difficult for me to have the water outside the coop yet out of the weather. You could certainly build an insulated box from plywood and mount it to the outside of your coop.

Wow, your unique situation sounds like someone's dream chicken coop to me. So there is nothing accidental about your winter waterering strategy. I think I have read some posts from people who use moving water with saddle nipples and cups. Some just drain them and shut them down. If I had ducks, I would give these a serious consideration - AND - I have seen my chickens dipping their beaks and cleaning their nostrils, as my box turtles often do, too, and sometimes I wonder if it's not a good idea to provide them with a clean source of "dippin" water now and then??? Yes, I could easily attach an insulated plywood box to my coop, maybe for BOTH waterers and feeders. Would solve a few problems if I did it right. PLUS - it could provide for a lot more room in the coop. I am going to think about this. Don't go shopping today: I ran out of gas, my dog threw up in the car, and the traffic was awful. AND the CC lines were down.

 

[aukuma]

Hoping this is the right place to post this. I didn't want to start a new thread.

I finally have a solution to my winter water blues. I have no source of water in my coop and have been carrying buckets of water out during winter several times a day to fill my rubber feed bowls. Dragging the bowls outside to kick the frozen water out of them. What a PITA.

I did a ton of searching for a solution and finally came up with something that looks like it's going to work.

Starting with the waterer.

I tried a 5 gallon drywall bucket and could not get an airtight seal. Took some advice I found on here and contacted my local grocery store bakery and paid $1 each for 5 gallon icing buckets with a gasket in the lid. I drilled a 3/4 inch hole on the side at the bottom (as close to the bottom as possible). Put the lid on and tested the water tight seal and it worked! Now I can create a vacuum inside the bucket. When filling the bucket I put a piece of duct tape over the hole to prevent water leaks (might get a little stopper in the future) I did notice that I need to fill the bucket as full as possible when initially placing the lid on so there is less air to create a nice vacuum.

I tested the bucket in a galvanized feed pan. I let it sit for 2 days and found that the pan had rusted. Not what I wanted. So I searched online and found an aluminum pizza pan which was the perfect size. (Johnson-Rose 12 Inch X 1 Inch Aluminium Deep Dish Pizza/Cake Pan $12.10 on Amazon). This should never rust and the depth is just right.

Now I needed a heater since this will probably freeze in PA winters. My sister swears by her homemade tin heaters. I decided I'd try this.

Heater.

Visited the Dollar Tree at just the right time of the year. They had rectangle tins (5 x 7) for a buck! I wanted a straight sided tin because I planned to set the heater between two bricks under the waterer. While at the Dollar Tree I bought a pair of medium base chandelier bulbs. I stopped at the local hardware store and purchased a lamp kit (GE Bottle Lamp Kit, White Cord 50961 $9.95 on Amazon). I install the kit by drilling a hole in the side of the tin (used the same bit that made the hole in the bucket), putting the tube through then assembling according to the directions. I had some silicone tape (Miracle Wrap, Self-fusing Silicone Rescue Tape $10.30 on Amazon) I already had on hand and used that to wrap the tube and cord to make it waterproof. I tested the tin after 10 minutes with an infrared thermometer and the surface read between 140 and 160 degrees. Perfect!

So, I paid $13.10 for a 5 gallon waterer and $10.95 for the heater. (not including items on hand and bulbs).

I did get an extra icing bucket so I didn't have to try to fill the bucket in the coop. I just fill it up inside and swap it out for the empty one. I also opted to purchase a pail opener since I can never get these things open on my own. ( Winco Pail Opener $6.86 on Amazon)

I've attached some photos. Excuse the heavy editing, my work space is less than attractive so I didn't want to share images of that.





Edited to mention. In the past I have tried hanging buckets with nipples on the bottom. While my birds had no problem using this they did freeze in the winter. Sometimes the bucket wasn't frozen but the nipples were.

 

[RonP]

Just how confident are you with that seal?

Was it designed for multiple / daily usage?

If it should eventually give,... are you prepared for the 5 gallon spill?

I built this with those concerns.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/quick-and-easy-5-gallon-waterer

 

[aukuma]

I'm pretty confident in that seal. Plan to lubricate it quite often. I'll be checking the seal daily when I refill waterers. Checking it in the sink before it makes it to the coop. I'm pretty lucky to have a huge sink I can fill buckets in and a huge coop that could handle the leak should I have a seal problem. If I find a seal that won't cut it I'll just replace the lid with another. I did see your tutorial when researching waterers but I don't want to wrestle something to turn upside down. I can't even get those bottles on the stinking water cooler without dumping half of it. I guess it's just our preference.

Should this thing fail, I'll certainly come back and update my post.

 

[bruceha2000]

Just how confident are you with that seal?

Was it designed for multiple / daily usage?

If it should eventually give,... are you prepared for the 5 gallon spill?

I built this with those concerns.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/quick-and-easy-5-gallon-waterer

Doesn't seem like a heater could be put in the bottle though that could be put on a "cookie tin" water heater. Do you have an idea of how cold it can get before you have problems with the water freezing?

 

[bruceha2000]

I'm pretty confident in that seal. Plan to lubricate it quite often. I'll be checking the seal daily when I refill waterers. Checking it in the sink before it makes it to the coop. I'm pretty lucky to have a huge sink I can fill buckets in and a huge coop that could handle the leak should I have a seal problem. If I find a seal that won't cut it I'll just replace the lid with another. I did see your tutorial when researching waterers but I don't want to wrestle something to turn upside down. I can't even get those bottles on the stinking water cooler without dumping half of it. I guess it's just our preference.

Should this thing fail, I'll certainly come back and update my post.

Just to be on the safe side you could get some sort of larger pan to put under it that would drain out of the coop if the seal does fail. Kind of like the washing machine overflow pans.

 

[frg34]

My breeder pen set ups are just like this, but the waterers are OUTSIDE the pen, and the birds access the nipple through the wire fence. I use the 250 watt API thermostatically controlled de icers, which seems a bit of an overkill to me, which is why I'm considering going to the heated dogbowls as heat sources for the buckets, if they do well this year. The system you use is the BEST, and it relieves sooo much of the stress of keeping chickens healthy in winter. Somebody really should do a thread on how to make safe electrical outdoor connections when using these watering systems.

yeah, those 250 watt de-icers seem like overkill to me too. Going through my first Maine winter i think 50 watts in a 5 gallon bucket will be good enough. Probably will get this http://www.amazon.com/9000-Eliminator-BirdBath-50-Watt--Icer/dp/B0006U2FJ8/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1449854167&sr=1-1&keywords=50+watt+de-icer.
some of the reviews were for chicken watering buckets and were favorable. i have vertical nipples, but assume they will probably freeze and will have to get some horizontals.

 

[coop410silkies]

yeah, those 250 watt de-icers seem like overkill to me too. Going through my first Maine winter i think 50 watts in a 5 gallon bucket will be good enough. Probably will get this http://www.amazon.com/9000-Eliminator-BirdBath-50-Watt--Icer/dp/B0006U2FJ8/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1449854167&sr=1-1&keywords=50+watt+de-icer.
some of the reviews were for chicken watering buckets and were favorable. i have vertical nipples, but assume they will probably freeze and will have to get some horizontals.

These heaters should be OK for five gallons. I used 60 watt light bulbs in cinder blocks to heat 5 gallon buckets, and in the less exposed conditions of the coop, the horizontal nipples did not freeze, even when outdoor temps were below zero. In the wholely exposed runs, the top inch or two of water sometimes froze, as did the nipples on occasion. Never with a bucket heater, though. I have found that the vertical nipples are very prone to freezing.

I went to the link you posted (thank you). A 3 year warranty on these heaters is nothing to sneeze at, and I'm impressed. A couple of questions/reservations, however: the cord is just 18" long, not long enough to allow the heater to set on the bottom; it will have to hang vertically along the side, a little off the bottom. To keep the heater under water, you will have to sacrifice some of the capacity of the bucket, and you will always have to be mindful of when more water needs to be added. You might consider using something other than a bucket to hold the water, like a shallow lidded food storage tub, or a tote, or some such thing. I am using Sterilite flip latch totes, and I love them. If you can keep the heater on the bottom, the horizontal nipples can be mounted slightly higher, so that when water runs out for the chickens, there is still some on the bottom to cover the heater.

I think 50 watts will be enough for more than 5 gallons, maybe even 10 or 20. A 250 watt heater serves my totally exposed 65 gallon rain barrel well, (although the spigot sometimes freezes.). And if 50 is not enough, there is always the 80 watt version. I'm definitely putting them on my list of things to buy.

 

[thebesticanbe]

I have great news!! My heated water busket worked perfictly. No frozen nipples all day and night long. I am super excited i could use things i already had in my storage

 

[lazy gardener]

Please share details: I'm assuming vertical nipples. Are you using a thermocube? Aquarium heater? Wattage? anything else? What is your typical winter weather pattern like? Highs during the day? Lows? How often do you have days on end below 0*F? First year with this set up??