Winter watering

[CatSeg57]

I'm looking ahead. This is my first year for chickens and I'm looking ahead to the winter. How do you all handle watering in the winter to avoid freezing? I am in western Iowa and we do get brutally cold sometimes. How should I keep my water from freezing? We do not have electricity to the coop.

 

[mechanic57]

Without electricity you may have to carry water out there a couple of times a day so they can drink before it freezes during the colder parts of the winter.

How far is the coop from your house? I run a 100ft extension cord from an outlet on the outside wall of my house to the chicken run. The outlet has a weatherproof cover that closes around the cord and the cord is an outdoor rated cord. I have a 55 gallon plastic food grade drum with water and I bought a stock tank heater that was made specifically for plastic containers. It doesn't get hot enough to melt plastic and has a built in thermometer so it only heats up when it needs to. The whole thing gets submerged in the tank and keeps the water thawed all winter. Where the heater plugs into the extension cord, I bought a weather proof cover that closes around the ends of the mated plugs to keep them dry. Worked that for 3 years now with no issues.

Seems like keeping their water from freezing and keeping their poo from building up too much is 99% of the work that goes into caring for chickens.

 

[BDutch]

How far is it to make a e-wire to the coop? How cold is cold where you live. And for how many day is it freezing during the fay?

Maybe a solar panel and a battery can do the job?

 

[CatSeg57]

How far is it to make a e-wire to the coop? How cold is cold where you live. And for how many day is it freezing during the fay?

Maybe a solar panel and a battery can do the job?

We will be setting up solar for an automatic door situation soon. I hadn't thought of using solar for a warmer. Do I have to use a metal waterer for the warmer or will plastic work ok?

 

[BDutch]

I don't have any experience myself but read this: Metal can be dangerous for the beaks of the chickens can get frozen on the surface. Plastic is not safe ether.

Once I had a warming element in a plastic waterer that melted the waterer. After that I bought a special waterer with a glass container where a warming element fits in.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I use rubber bowls outside. When they freeze you can bang them against the coop, on a rock or on frozen ground. .
I use a heated base with a galvanized waterer in the coops. It uses 125 watts. It cycles on at 35F and off at 40F water temperature.
I don't know if that'll work with battery/inverter and solar.
I use a 100' outdoor extension cord plugged into a weather rated GFCI. . . GC

 

[CatSeg57]

Without electricity you may have to carry water out there a couple of times a day so they can drink before it freezes during the colder parts of the winter.

How far is the coop from your house? I run a 100ft extension cord from an outlet on the outside wall of my house to the chicken run. The outlet has a weatherproof cover that closes around the cord and the cord is an outdoor rated cord. I have a 55 gallon plastic food grade drum with water and I bought a stock tank heater that was made specifically for plastic containers. It doesn't get hot enough to melt plastic and has a built in thermometer so it only heats up when it needs to. The whole thing gets submerged in the tank and keeps the water thawed all winter. Where the heater plugs into the extension cord, I bought a weather proof cover that closes around the ends of the mated plugs to keep them dry. Worked that for 3 years now with no issues.

Seems like keeping their water from freezing and keeping their poo from building up too much is 99% of the work that goes into caring for chickens.

Thanks. that is good info.

 

[chickens45]

I’m worried about the same thing. No electricity and I don’t have a real chicken coop yet either yet and likely won’t until the spring.

 

[CatSeg57]

I’m worried about the same thing. No electricity and I don’t have a real chicken coop yet either yet and likely won’t until the spring.

I guess if we have to we can run an extension cord to power a warmer.

Good luck with your flock.

 

[CatSeg57]

Thanks. that is good info.

I guess if we have to we can run an extension cord to power a warmer.