Winterizing the nipple waterer??

[Jonessa]

Looking for winter waterer advice... I have a suspended bucket with nipples hanging in my covered run. I'm wondering how I can winterize it? I have read about putting in a bottle of salt water - does that actually work?? The other option I have come across is putting an aquarium heater inside the bucket. The coldest days here get down to about -25C. Does anyone else have other suggestions for keeping this type of waterer from freezing?

 

[ChattyChickens4Life]

I saw an article on this. I can't remember all the details, but I found it on the Chicken Fountain website. I believe it has something to do with duct tape..... lots of duct tape.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Looking for winter waterer advice... I have a suspended bucket with nipples hanging in my covered run. I'm wondering how I can winterize it? I have read about putting in a bottle of salt water - does that actually work?? The other option I have come across is putting an aquarium heater inside the bucket. The coldest days here get down to about -25C. Does anyone else have other suggestions for keeping this type of waterer from freezing?

feed stores do sell heaters for water that you are able to use in buckets
did find one on the tractor supply site
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/allied-precision-bucket-heater-1000-w?cm_vc=-10005
probably get off amazon also

 

[PingoBags]

I had the same type of setup in my covered run last year. I wrapped the bucket with that heat tape, then wrapped insulation all around it. At -12c, the nipples froze but the water was still liquid. At -22/-25C, the water went slushy. The heat tape failed completely halfway through winter. I had no plan B.

You could try horizontal nipples with a heat source. I've read on here that they are a lot better in the winter.

 

[naf_appaz]

I never had to deal with any long cold periods but I have used an inexpensive aquarium heater I had to keep the water from freezing...

 

[sd38-2]

The aquarium heater worked in my girls waterer. It's a 2 gallon bucket with the horizontal nipples in a covered run. The coldest we saw last year was -10*F.

 

[blackdog043]

It's been said on here quite often, that vertical nipples will freeze. You will need to make a horizontal nipple waterer, switch to a heated waterer or metal waterer with a heated base to sit it on.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/automatic-freeze-proof-watering.1200292/#post-19002760

 

[PingoBags]

It's been said on here quite often, that vertical nipples will freeze. You will need to make a horizontal nipple waterer, switch to a heated waterer or metal waterer with a heated base to sit it on.

I can see how that would be true. I've always used vertical nips and they hold water in the nipple itself on the outside of the water source, which always freezes and prevents the chickens from drinking even when the rest of the water is liquid. I just received some horizontals, and just by looking at them, I can tell they would be harder to freeze.

By the looks of them, the very little water they possibly could hold, would be inside the heated water source, not the outside. So a lot harder to freeze.

 

[RonP]

With electricity, there are several successful methods.

Here are links to what works well for me.

Forever Water Heater one that lasts.
Unfrozen Nipple Watering for those cold days.

Hope this helps.