Winterizing Nipple Waterers? UPDATE Really? No One Knows?

[WinterLadyAK]

Anyone ever tried one of these? I have a 5 gallon bucket setup with a pvc pipe coming out and I'm considering giving this a try.

I have one and it works great at above zero temps. Another thing to be aware of if you have really hard water... We got a LOT of what I assume us Calcium buildup on ours very quickly. It stuck to the metal but also came off in the water. Also if you get one cut off where the metal coil on the cord attaches to the base and push it up so it's not in the water, it will rust.

 

[ChickenWaterer]

If you put your waterer in your coop, the chickens body heat may be sufficient to keep the water from freezing in areas where the weather is temperate. If you live in a cold area, you can run a 40 watt lightbulb in the coop to keep the ambient temperature above freezing. That's what we recommend to our customers.

 

[rcdavis20]

Anyone ever tried one of these? I have a 5 gallon bucket setup with a pvc pipe coming out and I'm considering giving this a try.

I have this one. Works great!

 

[Rich386]

Take a look at my post of gravity fed watering system. Let me know what you think.
Thanks Rich

 

[bovine0001]

This thread needs to keep going!! This winter, my PVC system froze, as it got colder than I expected, and one of the nipples was pushed out of its hole in the PVC. Now I have the hole plugged and need to prepare for next winter.

There are plenty of good examples of bucket heaters here, which is the easy part and supported well by retailers. In order to keep the PVC from freezing though, we need to circulate the water. I wonder if submersible pumps could help. In line pumps are more expensive so I did not look at those. I imagine water pumped from the bucket to the end of the PVC and pushes the water through the PVC back to the bucket. If the heater and pump are all hooked to a thermocube so they aren't running all the time.

I also wonder about PEX tubing, as this is more cold resistant. It does have a bend in it though and could may make it hard to place the nipples straight down.

Should these things fail, the post about heat cable in the water system used for their rabbits may work, though I would be curious about the materials of the cable as to not introduce nasty chemicals into the water.

*Edit: I found this heat cable with PVC wrapped wires. FOOD SAFE!! It has it's own thermostat. May be the way to go for next winter.

 

[Rich386]

Take a look on EBay for horizontal watering nipple they work great! No leaking and the birds can't mess them up. They work vertical and any where in between.

 

[carolina wildma]

I USE THE COMMERCIAL NIPPLE SYSTEM. I WATER MY CHICKENS ONCE A YEAR (HOOKED UP ON A 280 GAL TOTE). I BOUGHT A 100' PIPE WATER HEATER CABLE ON eBAY FOR $ 40.00, I RAN THE HEATER CABLE ON THE BOTTOM SIDE OF THE PVC PIPE. I RAN THE HEATER CABLE RIGHT ALONG SIDE THE NIPPLE AND HAVE HAD ANY PROBLEMS. I PUT THE FOAM RUBBER PIPE WRAP (COMES IN 5-6' SECTIONS) AROUND THE PIPE WITH THE HEATER ON THE INSIDE. PLUGGED INTO A 110 V ADAPTER THAT AUTOMATICALLY COMES ON @ 35 DEGREES AND GOES OFF @ 45 DEGREES. I HAD TO PUT A LARGER PIECE OF PVC AROUND THIS FOR THE PIPE INSIDE OF THE COOP SO THE CHICKENS WOULDN'T PEAK THE INSULATION ALL TO PIECES. I CAN'T TELL ANY DIFFERENCE IN MY POWER BILL. I'VE GOT APPROX 30 CHICKENS. THIS HAS REALLY BEEN A TIME SAVER. PIPE FEEDERS ARE ANOTHER BIG PLUS. I CAN SPEND MORE TIME MAINTAINING MY COOPS.

 

[carolina wildma]

I USE THE COMMERCIAL NIPPLE SYSTEM. I WATER MY CHICKENS ONCE A YEAR (HOOKED UP ON A 280 GAL TOTE). I BOUGHT A 100' PIPE WATER HEATER CABLE ON eBAY FOR $ 40.00, I RAN THE HEATER CABLE ON THE BOTTOM SIDE OF THE PVC PIPE. I RAN THE HEATER CABLE RIGHT ALONG SIDE THE NIPPLE AND HAVE HAD ANY PROBLEMS. I PUT THE FOAM RUBBER PIPE WRAP (COMES IN 5-6' SECTIONS) AROUND THE PIPE WITH THE HEATER ON THE INSIDE. PLUGGED INTO A 110 V ADAPTER THAT AUTOMATICALLY COMES ON @ 35 DEGREES AND GOES OFF @ 45 DEGREES. I HAD TO PUT A LARGER PIECE OF PVC AROUND THIS FOR THE PIPE INSIDE OF THE COOP SO THE CHICKENS WOULDN'T PEAK THE INSULATION ALL TO PIECES. I CAN'T TELL ANY DIFFERENCE IN MY POWER BILL. I'VE GOT APPROX 30 CHICKENS. THIS HAS REALLY BEEN A TIME SAVER. PIPE FEEDERS ARE ANOTHER BIG PLUS. I CAN SPEND MORE TIME MAINTAINING MY COOPS.

 

[WinterLadyAK]

This thread needs to keep going!! This winter, my PVC system froze, as it got colder than I expected, and one of the nipples was pushed out of its hole in the PVC. Now I have the hole plugged and need to prepare for next winter.

There are plenty of good examples of bucket heaters here, which is the easy part and supported well by retailers. In order to keep the PVC from freezing though, we need to circulate the water. I wonder if submersible pumps could help. In line pumps are more expensive so I did not look at those. I imagine water pumped from the bucket to the end of the PVC and pushes the water through the PVC back to the bucket. If the heater and pump are all hooked to a thermocube so they aren't running all the time.

I also wonder about PEX tubing, as this is more cold resistant. It does have a bend in it though and could may make it hard to place the nipples straight down.

Should these things fail, the post about heat cable in the water system used for their rabbits may work, though I would be curious about the materials of the cable as to not introduce nasty chemicals into the water.

*Edit: I found this heat cable with PVC wrapped wires. FOOD SAFE!! It has it's own thermostat. May be the way to go for next winter.

Keep us posted if you end up trying out that heat cable!

 

[3forfree]

This is my first year with chickens and I use a cookie tin water


system. I have a 40W light bulb inside and have never had the one gallon waterer freeze.
I use the bigger one, the birds don't knock it over or roost on it.