Oh, plenty of frozen water in the winter here in Michigan! The big lake keeps the temperatures more moderate than Minnesota, but we can have below zero.
My concern is about electricity in the coop/run. It will have to be an extension cord. Someone posted a link with an outdoor rated one, and I might do that.
You don't need a heavy duty outdoor extension cord. The heater uses something like125 watts, equivalent to a light bulb. I have an orange 50' 16/3 extension cord that I paid maybe around $10 on sale at Menards.
Here is a link for
Smart Electrician® 40' 16/3 Light-Duty Green Outdoor Extension Cord at Menards for just over $10 everyday price. I do have a heavy duty outdoor 12/3 extension cord for powered saws and pumps, but that costs about $50 for 50 feet. You don't need that heavy cable for this metal base heater. However, if you need to buy a heavy duty extension cord for some other projects, then of course this could be your reason to upgrade your purchase.
I had my extension cord laying on the ground from the house outside outlet to the chicken coop all winter, the line was sitting under about 3 feet of snow at times, and I never had any problems. Inside the coop, I was concerned that the chickens might peck at the electrical cord(s), but they did not. So, I am heading into my 2nd winter with no worries about an electrical cord temporarily run out to the coop for the winter.
We have had a few nights dipping below freezing this week, but yesterday morning was the first time I saw frozen water in the outside water pan in the chicken run. So I ran my extension cord out to the coop and plugged in the base heater. This morning, our temp was about 26F and the outside water was frozen solid. I checked the temp of the water in the waterer with the metal base heater, and it was 52F.
The base heater has a built in sensor to turn on the power to keep the water just above freezing, so it does not burn electricity unless needed. This time of year, maybe it turns on in the dead of the night for 2-3 hours. That is about 3 cents per day for me. In the dead of winter, assuming that the heater is on 24/7, for me that is 30 cents per day. Well worth it for me.
I built my chicken coop on an old boat trailer frame with the idea that I, too, would move the chicken coop next to the house for the winter months. It is completely mobile. However, Dear Wife was not onboard where I wanted to move the coop by the house. Her suggestion was as far from the house as where I initially located the coop in our backyard. So, my mobile coop has not moved, nor do I expect it to ever move, from it's present place in our backyard.
