Winter water?

[ll]

I use a heated dog dish.
But I've put a silicone baking dish inside of it, lining the dog dish.
Then when it needs to be cleaned I just lift out the soft liner, not the whole heated dog dish with cord.

 

[amillecay]

That's a super neat idea!

 

[memechick]

What a great idea!!

 

[JesseK]

Great idea! My biggest concern with the dog dish was that they would walk in it, get their feet wet, and suffer frost bite. Is that not a problem?

 

[Barbedwirecat]

I use two heated 3 gallon water buckets with nipples on the bottom. Plumbers heat tape between the two buckets. It turns on only when the temp is below freezing (very energy efficient) and reduces greatly the risk of fire.

(not my pic, but what one looks like)

I herniated a disk in my back this year (29 yeas old, the best must be yet to come!) and I am SOOOO thankful I switched over to the chicken nipple method. NO MORE POOP IN THE WATERERS!! I scrub out the buckets once a month (but I also use Oxine in my water). Mine has a lip to keep the nipples from freezing outside AND so I can set it down on the ground---but we keep one inside and out just in case. I also have a PVC elbow with cap attached to the lid so I can fill with the garden hose in the warmer months.

Cheapest place I have found for materials is Lowes for the buckets (I have see through ones so I can see the water level) and ebay for the nipples and heat tape. I go with 5ft or more of tape, you want it to wrap around over 3 times. You can also buy them on the following site if you don't want to wait long for shipping.


Instructions on making it--
http://avianaquamiser.com/posts/Heated_bucket_chicken_waterer/

More instructions and ideas for other methods:
http://avianaquamiser.com/posts/Best_heated_chicken_waterer/

 

[jmagill]

Great idea! My biggest concern with the dog dish was that they would walk in it, get their feet wet, and suffer frost bite. Is that not a problem?

That is why I made the switch. Frosbite is the biggest problem for chickens in the winter. They spend their energy healing instead of produce eggs. The open water also adds moisture to the coop.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I was curious if anyone had any experience with these and chickens, good to hear feedback! i think that would be better for my small flock, the other types again seem like overkill and chickens don't make such a water mess anyhow.. my ducks would swim in that

we had to downsize our heated buckets because they were swimming in them last winter lol

I actually found some 25Watt heated dog bowls that hold 96-ounces, which worked great at keeping the water thawed, but not from getting all poopy. I am trying to figure out how I am going to keep CLEAN and thawed waterers this winter.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Do the dog dishes come larger? I have chickens and ducks this year, and the waterer is NOT going in the coop. That will soak everything and cause lots of problems. I was thinking of getting a rubber bucket and putting a stock heater in it, but maybe a dog dish would work if it's deep enough? I'd put it high enough that the ducks couldn't climb in it, but they're still very messy with their bills.

ETA: I posted about the same time as the previous posters. So I think they just answered my questions.

 

[Forest_Nymph]

Years ago I purchased a water heater for a bird bath and have used it for years for both the ducks and the chickens. I need to add that I usually separate the birds during their winter confinement. For the ducks, I used a thick rubber sheet under their water container(shoebox tote with birdbath heater) and then covered it with some scrap pagewire fencing piece. There was plenty of room for them to submerse their heads and not get into the water dish. Under the rubber sheeting I also place some used bricks to create a berm and contain any spillage. About once a week I'd lift and clean it all out.
The Chickens water heater was elevated so their busy scratching didn't mess up their water supply.
I've also used the pet dish heater for the flock with the same wire fencing wrapped over the top to keep the ducks out.
On a good day during the winter, I'd set up some cat litter boxes filled with fresh water and the ducks were delighted with a fresh bath on the deck of their coop. (no one wanted to touch the snow, so had to shovel the deck first!

 

[itsmechrissy]

I use a heated dog bowl, keep it raised on a concrete block so the girls don't walk in it (not 100% prevention but helps). In the winter I just bring my gallon jug of water out to the coop and use that to rinse and refill the dog dish. I must say that the water tends to evaporate quick so I refill twice a day (morning and night(.