I've got 2 nipple waterers - I'll rotate them daily. Storing one indoors overnight should get it warm enough to keep from freezing by night time. (I hope...) I'll let you know how it goes.
Winterizing Nipple Waterers? UPDATE Really? No One Knows?
- Thread starter spoggy
- Start date
Someone posted some copper things you can put on the nipples inside the waterer to transfer the heat to the nipples to keep them from freezing. Seems like an interesting solution.
I'll see if I can find the link because googling it doesn't find it.
ETA: here is the link http://shop.chickenfountain.com/Heater-Accessory-Kit-HAK.htm
I'll see if I can find the link because googling it doesn't find it.
ETA: here is the link http://shop.chickenfountain.com/Heater-Accessory-Kit-HAK.htm
Last edited:
An update from post #127 of this thread:
The insulated water bucket was put in the run for 2 nights now with night time temperature at 30 degrees. Our chickens drank from the horizontal nipples immediately with no problem. We still have the unheated PVC pipe water feeder with the vertical nipples in the run, but I suspect that it will freeze by the end of this week when the cold front hits. Will see how both systems perform in the next couple of weeks.
The insulated water bucket was put in the run for 2 nights now with night time temperature at 30 degrees. Our chickens drank from the horizontal nipples immediately with no problem. We still have the unheated PVC pipe water feeder with the vertical nipples in the run, but I suspect that it will freeze by the end of this week when the cold front hits. Will see how both systems perform in the next couple of weeks.
Totally adding to this thread hoping more people will contribute their great ideas! My current setup is a 2 gallon bucket with 3 vertical chicken nipples on the bottom and a 50 watt aquarium heater on the bottom of the bucket. I don't think I've seen it get this cold and snow so much this early in November, but the 9ºF cold snap this week has tested my first time chicken ownership abilities. I was ready for the cold: tarp over the run, aquarium heater bought, thermo cube, electricity run out to the coop. What brings me down? THE NIPPLES FREEZE. The water is nice and warm inside the bucket, but the fricken nipples are freezing as the water gets inside or drips down and then freezes the nipples in place. Even during the day, I come home to find them frozen solid in place, even with the aquarium heater placed directly over the nipples inside the bucket!
I don't have the money or the talent to make the complicated plumbing systems with running water, so I'm going to try the horizontal nipples. Hopefully those will work. I'll try to let you know if they do. I have a feeling we have a tough winter ahead of us.
I don't have the money or the talent to make the complicated plumbing systems with running water, so I'm going to try the horizontal nipples. Hopefully those will work. I'll try to let you know if they do. I have a feeling we have a tough winter ahead of us.
Stick with your horizontal nipples and get this
http://shop.chickenfountain.com/Heater-Accessory-Kit-HAK.htm
the copper supposedly takes the heat to the metal in the nipples to keep them warm. I haven't tried it yet, but I have the same setup and same problem. I had some copper tubing laying around but it didn't fit. I might work at it to see if I can make it fit and see if it helps.
Yes! Let me know if that helps you! If the horizontal nipples alone don't fix the problem, I'll look into the heater you suggested. Thanks!
The horizontal nipples shouldn't fix it. It is still wet metal exposed to cold air. Might even be worse because there will be a puddle of water in the cups. Don't know for sure though.
We bought the chicken fountain last year right before winter started. It came with the copper pins already installed.We winterized the pipe and valve that came above ground (our water system was buried underground to avoid freezing), We installed it in the run (got the big one with 10 nipples) we also bought the deicer (as recommended by the chicken fountain owner) and placed it inside. We are in south Texas so winters are not as bad as up North, however we had an unusual winter last year (a lot more days under 32F for several hours. We had no problems with the fountain, the nipples didn't freeze neither did the fountain.
I might add that we placed a OSB board between the hardware cloth and the fountain to protect it from the north winds.
It looks like this winter is going to be as harsh as last year's if not worse (for our standards) so I am crossing my fingers for the fountain to hold on.
I might add that we placed a OSB board between the hardware cloth and the fountain to protect it from the north winds.
It looks like this winter is going to be as harsh as last year's if not worse (for our standards) so I am crossing my fingers for the fountain to hold on.
Thought I'd share my experience so far. We've been using vertical nipples for over a year. Haven't tested the horizontal ones. The vertical work great all around. Last winter I did the extra bucket exchange. Every day you take the bucket off the chain and hang the new one... That was terrible! This year I ran an extension cord and have a submersible tank heater in the water. It keeps the water from freezing but the nipples still freeze. So I've been taking some hot water to top off my bucket each day before work and I give the birds a pan of warm water because the nipples have been defrosting after a few hours in the sun. A TON better than exchanging buckets but still would like not to walk out there every morning...
Those copper things are designed for the vertical nipples, I don't think they will work with the horizontal nipples. The horizontal nipples have worked MUCH better than the vertical ones for us. Haven't had them freeze up yet, down to -9F, whereas the vertical ones froze up around 20F. This was using a deicer device in the bucket, which kept the water around 40F.
You might try not using the thermocube and just turn the aquarium heater to the lowest setting and see if that works. It worked for us with the vertical nipples to much colder temps. Perhaps the thermocube is turning off the heater too often.
Other than freezing nipples issues, the main reason we switched to the horizontal ones is our birds were getting wet every time they drank from the vertical nipples. Frostbite, minor at that, but not good to have wet birds in freezing temps.
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