Winter water?

[Yukoncoop]

What wattage did you use?

 

[ChickenCrazed]

I have a pvc vertical pipe chicken waterer. I just purchased this aquarium heater to use inside my pipe to hopefully keep my water from freezing. This heater is completely submersible and will not burn out if it is out of water! Hope it works!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00061UQ6G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[bruceha2000]

It will certainly work down to some ambient temperature. You can start by setting at its lowest temperature and when the ambient temps go low enough for the water to freeze at the nipples, turn it up. It can't but help if you can insulate some quantity of the pipe. Maybe a piece of PVC of larger diameter you can slip over the one containing the water and use spray foam between them. Probably need to cover the exposed edge of the foam or the chickens will peck at it.

 

[med1pilot]

Make one of these and you can continue to use the waterer you already have.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/11/make-cookie-tin-waterer-heater-under-10.html

 

[1cutechick]

I use a large heated dog dish that I plug inside the coop. I feed and water in the coop. The dish sits on a concrete block so it is less likely to be soiled. It was not expensive, and works great. I take a gallon water jug out with me in the am when I go out to check everybody and refill as needed. I used it all last winter and it worked great. I have another one that I use for my little goat girls and it works great for them too. We are in Eau Claire, Wi with 1 rooster and 7 hens.

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

I live in Tennessee so we don't see the extreme temperatures that you do but with a few tweaks this could really work for you. For starters, my set-up is outside but if yours is in the barn then it would help you a good deal.
I've got a 55 gallon plastic drum inside an insulated box with a pipe heater wrapped around the bottom half. If we are expecting very cold weather I don't fill it up all the way.

If you have just one flock then you can just put nipples right into the bottom and be done with it. I have 6 breeds so I have a PVC pipe that runs out of that and through each run with nipples coming off of the pipe. Then I have a pipe heater zip-tied to the PVC pipe.

We got down to -5F briefly and I ran out and got a larger pipe to go over this one to help trap the heat between the layers but my holes in the larger PVC pipe were too small to really tighten up the nipples properly and they dribbled a bit so I just took it off after the cold spell passed. It kept liquid water down to about 10F. I still have the pipe and one of these days (probably in the dark in a very cold night) I need to drill those holes bigger and put the other PVC pipe over this one.

 

[slackjawedyokel]

Gearing up for this here too. We have our first few nights below 30 this week. We raise 4 girls in a suburban backyard in a tractor. Due to zoning issues, I am not allowed to run power to my tractor/coop. No issues for the girls, but the frozen water is a concern. We use a DIY nipple waterer. I looked at two options: first, ignore zoning and run an extension cord and use a tape heater on the nipple waterer. I could do this with no problem since the only neighbor that could see it is one I give eggs to and she likes the chickens. Other option was to move the girls into a temporary coop in the shed, where I have power. I opted for the shed since it gives me better light control and hopefully solves the frozen water issue. I'll pick up the heated waterer that oaxa mentioned if an issue develops.

 

[city chick 7461]

i live in mich an have had as many as 19 chickens at a time we have an heated water container that is 1 1/2 gallons ant that needs to be refilled every day but the h20 stays liquid we got ours at tractor supply they also have it at our local feed mill the feed mill is a little more expensive but if you are a ways away the drive would eat up the difference the base comes off to clean and fill it does need to be cleaned each time i refill it since we also have ducks hope this helps

 

[GC-Raptor]

This is my setup, a homemade heated base with a 2 gallon waterer.

GC

 

[mistyfields75]

I just bought a heated dog bowl. $16 Rural King. Works great. I had bought the big hanging 2-3 gallon one with red base but it broke 2 times in 1 year. The dog dishes work great!