| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| laurentany |
Posted - Jan 03 2013 : 3:22:34 PM
Well, I maybe asking a silly question here, but I am wondering if anyone has any tried and true tricks that they use to keep their chickens waterers from freezing in this cold weather? My coop does not have electricity, but I thought perhaps there was a "secret" that I didnt know about. I have the same problem with the waterer in the rabbit hutch too.
I am going to try going to Lowes or Home Depot to get the type of tape that the plumbers use to wrap pipes in, I thougth if I wrapped teh waterers in that it would HELP. I'm sure it wont solve the issue, but may buy me a little more warmth! HA HA.
So, if you've got the answer to the million dollar question, I would appreciate you sharing! LOL
Thanks in advance!
~Laurie
"Little Hen House on the Island"
Farmgirl Sister#1403
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Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.. |
| 13 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| laurentany |
Posted - Jan 18 2013 : 6:50:01 PM
I known Tina, I am kinda afraid to put electricity in my coop. I could easily do it, since I have a big shed with electricity not far from my coop, but I' ve always been leery of that, so for the 5 years I have had my girls I have never had electricity.
~Laurie
"Little Hen House on the Island"
Farmgirl Sister#1403
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Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.. |
| oldbittyhen |
Posted - Jan 15 2013 : 7:59:16 PM
CAUTION, if you use heating elements in your coops, make sure they can not heat up bedding and start a fire, also run your electrical cords thru PVC pipe so the chickens can not peck at it, nor can rodents chew on it...I have seen coop fires, and by the time you know about it, its too late...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
| walkinwalkoutcattle |
Posted - Jan 15 2013 : 3:48:25 PM
Yeah, I bought a heated poultry waterer online-off Amazon, I think-while it's a pain to refill it really gives me peace of mind to know they have water out there when it's FREEZING cold.
Farmgirl #2879 :)
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| MtnGrlByTheBay |
Posted - Jan 15 2013 : 12:46:14 PM
I have a nifty waterer that I purchased online. It's a simple 2 ltr soda bottle with a resevoir nipple on the cap and a vent. It has a wire harness that I hang on a couple of hooks on the coop. I haven't quite had the need to dive into this experiment her in MD (we just see RAIN, RAIN, RAIN lately!), but I was thinking I might try getting some sort of Thermal Fabric, like they make wet suits out of, and make a large bottle cozy to put the bottle in. Think it'd work? Hardest part is finding the right fabric, I suppose.
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| FieldsofThyme |
Posted - Jan 08 2013 : 05:14:53 AM
We simply extend a heat lamp over it, using an outdoor extension cord.
Farmgirl #800
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| laurentany |
Posted - Jan 06 2013 : 5:53:14 PM
Thank you ladies! I really appreciate all of the information. Lucky for me we will be having a "repreave" from the cold weather for at least the next week, so that will give me time to figure it out.
I could run an extension cord from the shed to the coop quite easily, so maybe after five years of defrosting waterers, its time to make my life a little easier! LOL
Thank you again for the advice and ideas!
Hugs,
~Laurie
"Little Hen House on the Island"
Farmgirl Sister#1403
View my New Blog:
http://simplesuburbanpleasures.blogspot.com
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.. |
| SheilaC |
Posted - Jan 05 2013 : 6:28:34 PM
we use the heated dog bowls too (with another bowl/bucket inside so we can change/dump it easily) -- works great.
It's been so cold lately that our rabbit heated waterers have frozen each day (well, frozen except for the area right in front of the heated element! :) so we're just using bowls and switching them out for the rabbits right now.
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| Lorie.Vance |
Posted - Jan 05 2013 : 3:32:56 PM
What about one of those reusable heated pads for muscle soreness under the water bowl? |
| StrawHouseRanch |
Posted - Jan 04 2013 : 04:38:14 AM
I also use heated dog water bowls for my chickens, with a very long outdoor extension cord running to the house. I actually put another water bowl inside the heated bowl, so I can clean it and change water easily.
Paula
Farmgirl Sister #3090
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| crittergranny |
Posted - Jan 03 2013 : 8:31:36 PM
I use heated dog waterer bowls for my chickens in the winter. I would rather have a nice heated chicken waterer. There are heated domes one can buy to set metal waterers on top of.
Laura
Horse poor in the boonies.
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| Rosemary |
Posted - Jan 03 2013 : 5:16:29 PM
If I were you, Laurie, I'd just get one of those heavy-duty extension cords like the kind you would use with an electric lawn mower. You can get 100-ft long ones, totally water- and weather-proof, for about $10 at places like Home Depot, if they still have them in stock this time of year. If you don't have an outdoor outlet, maybe you could rig up some way to get it from inside the house to the coop. The electric waterers I've seen are pretty cheap (no pun intended). |
| oldbittyhen |
Posted - Jan 03 2013 : 4:43:32 PM
Wood in the water will help prevent a solid freeze, make sure its un-treated wood, and is large enough to float, not sink and when you pull the wood out, you have a large enough drinking area for your animals, if you have to , float several pieces, I switch to water bowls for my rabbits in the winter, and also float wood in them...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
| Bear5 |
Posted - Jan 03 2013 : 4:36:45 PM
Laurie, a farmgirl once posted about this. She suggested putting a piece of wood floating in the water to keep it from freezing. Maybe she'll see your question and post to it.
Good luck.
Marly
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross |
