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Post by woolybear on Dec 25, 2023 20:15:27 GMT
Ok people I need your thoughts here. I've always used the 5 gallon galvanized chicken waterers, biggest reason is that in the winter when it gets butt freezing cold I can plop it onto a heated base and the chickees have access to water. Well the ole galvanized gal has sprung a leak and it's time for a new one. I have a 3 gallon plastic tank with a built in heated base but I've never cared for the thing, seems like it would pick the most inopportune time to come apart (usually when I've just filled it, flip it over and it dumps into my shoes). Now when I've used the metal tank with the metal heater base I always had to be a bit careful because it would really make the water warm - enough so that it felt like bath water and would be steaming when I took off the lid to fill it. That meant just plugging in at night and unplug in the morning.
Now in recent years we don't have the butt numbing cold but that doesn't mean we can't get slapped with it. Yea one year it was -30 for a day or so and that's in the mid-atlantic area.
So all of that to ask the question
What do people use for chicken waterers in cold areas? I'm leaning toward picking up another metal one sometime tomorrow (geesh who goes shopping the day after Christmas?? almost as bad as Christmas Eve) but if anyone can give a good review on another type I'm all ears.
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Post by BrewDaddy on Dec 25, 2023 20:23:42 GMT
I can't recommend another type, but if you have power to where you put the water maybe an aquarium heater can help solve the 'butt freezing cold' problem?
bd
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Post by Ozarks Tom on Dec 25, 2023 23:54:05 GMT
We use 3 gallon waterers on plastic heater bases. They work fine until the temps get down below 0, then they just can't keep up. The bases have thermostats so they're not heating all the time. The biggest aggravation is they get clogged every now and then and have to be taken apart for cleaning. Not often, but more often than we'd like. We've given up on the galvanized waterers, they rust out in a couple years and cost at least as much as the plastic ones. This is the one we use, we have two of them, and I'm guessing they can be found cheaper than this site.
This is the base we use, and again, I'm sure it can be found cheaper.
One advantage to this style is it can be filled by just taking the lid off, rather than filling one and carrying it from the hydrant.
We have chickens and ducks, which means the ducks make a soggy mess of everything wet, and splash more than they drink. But the eggs are great, so.....
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Post by mzgarden on Dec 26, 2023 0:09:25 GMT
We use heated dog bowls. No need to take anything apart to fill, just pour from a bucket or, in my case, I've got a couple empty cat litter jugs that are easier for me to carry and to pour from. It gets down to 0F here and we haven't had any trouble with them.
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Post by wildhorseluvr on Dec 26, 2023 1:15:39 GMT
We use heated dog bowls. No need to take anything apart to fill, just pour from a bucket or, in my case, I've got a couple empty cat litter jugs that are easier for me to carry and to pour from. It gets down to 0F here and we haven't had any trouble with them. That’s what I used, a couple of XL heated dog bowls, placed on a square frame 4” high, made of 2x4s and covered with hardware cloth. Did a fair job of keeping the chickens from scratching shavings into the bowls. I think I just used gallon size water jugs to fill. Our weather would get down to -10 or so at times, don’t recall them ever freezing up. They were inside the chicken coop but it wasn’t heated other than a couple of heat lamps over the roosts on really cold nights. |
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Post by woolybear on Dec 26, 2023 14:03:43 GMT
Thanks for those ideas. I'll hit the internet to see what I can find locally before resorting to the amazon
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Post by woolybear on Dec 26, 2023 14:26:02 GMT
Update, just ordered the fountain and heat base from tractor supply. They had way better prices than amazon...go figure lol
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Post by woolybear on Dec 29, 2023 14:32:57 GMT
Ozarks Tom, the waterer came today....THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, for suggesting this type/brand. I'm pretty impressed with it and hope it will last for years (or until I'm too old to deal with chickens). I "may" have slightly overestimated the size - got the 6 gallon, it says it's good for 100 chickens. I, umm, have 13, so according to chicken math I could add 2 more chickens and have a total of 30 LOL
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Post by fordy on Dec 30, 2023 1:24:28 GMT
Ozarks Tom , the waterer came today....THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, for suggesting this type/brand. I'm pretty impressed with it and hope it will last for years (or until I'm too old to deal with chickens). I "may" have slightly overestimated the size - got the 6 gallon, it says it's good for 100 chickens. I, umm, have 13, so according to chicken math I could add 2 more chickens and have a total of 30 LOL .................The 'Slowest' thing in the world is Biden trying to find the women's rest room so he can 'Smell' their whatever before his wife starts looking for him ! .................The 'Next' slowest thing is a horney Rooster in the mood for love , with a bunch of Hens when it's 0 degree's F ! , fordy |
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