minnesotachickens

I'm just throwing this out there, I'm looking for ideas of what works to get water to the chickens in the winter. In the past I've used the heated base for the metal waterers which worked okay except when it got really cold. I worry about having electric cords on the floor of the coop.

My other option has been having two waterers and alternating them so one is thawing while the other is in the coop freezing. This method has been tough on my galvenized waterers because of the constant freezing and thawing.

How do you keep water from freezing in the winter?

Western Chic wrote:I'm just throwing this out there, I'm looking for ideas of what works to get water to the chickens in the winter. In the past I've used the heated base for the metal waterers which worked okay except when it got really cold. I worry about having electric cords on the floor of the coop.

My other option has been having two waterers and alternating them so one is thawing while the other is in the coop freezing. This method has been tough on my galvenized waterers because of the constant freezing and thawing.

How do you keep water from freezing in the winter?

I like using the watering pan heaters. Certain ones that you can install or set inside a waterer. They seem to be one of the most reliable.
You can also get water pans for dogs that come with a built in heater. Only thing with these ones, are that they are open pans and get dirty easily.
I've also thought about using a large aquarium/fish heater. They sell ones that you can submerse into water. I've never tried it, but if you were to hang the electrical lines off the ground along the celing or wall, I think it would work just as good.
It's always best to get one with a thermostat so you can adjust the on/off, temperate settings.
You don't want too cold or too hot of a water. Since it will directly affect the poultry.
One other way is to make sure the room where the waterer is in never drops below freezing temperature. Insulating the walls, roof, never letting wet spots or puddles build up from waterers, use heat lamp(s) and control the ventilation.

Helpfully this link can help answer some questions too.
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/poultry_equipment.html

We have just done the frequent refill method. We tried to keep the coupe sealed and insulated as well as economically possible, and then kept the water in an open plastic feeder pan. We would fill it with warm water twice a day, The chickens would drink it and then chip ice off as it froze over and continue drinking. It seemed to work well and we had no sick chickens last year and excellent egg production all winter.

Although, it was a pain carying out the warm water every day... so next year we will probably just use the heating pad under a tin waterer. We also generally use waterers made out of plastic 5 gallon buckets that are cheap to make and don't get damaged from freezing like a more expensive metal bucket can.

This is something that i m gonna try this winter--- items needed a 5-gallon pail with tight lid, a plastic water bowl that fits under the pan with "drinking room, a 150 watt aqaurium heater(submersible) and a tube of silicon. Drill a hole in bucket just under the height of the bowl and a hole in the lid big enough to get the heater plug through(use a hole saw and save the piece) silicon the "piece" back in when you have the cord all the way through (the heater should sit on the bottom of the pail)--
-the 150 watt was recommended by a guy in the new england states may need to go higher here Clear as Mud??

Agree. Winter is coming up way too quick. Need to find something to keep the waterer from freezing. That would cut down on some work. That's for sure.