Heat lamp and a mirror make a heated chicken waterer

Heated chicken waterer

Keeping a chicken waterer from freezing with a heat lampErik Kingston emailed me
these stunning photos of a homemade, heated chicken waterer that can be
thrown together with parts most chicken-keepers will already have on
hand.  He wrote:



[These
two photos] show Sparkle (Silver Wyandotte) drinking from the inner
waterer, a
five-gallon food-grade bucket with two nipples. I drilled a 1/32-inch
hole in the lid to prevent a vacuum and keep out dirt. I have a mirror
against one wall and thought that a heat lamp on a thermal switch would
be enough to keep the water in the bucket from freezing. This winter we
had lots of single-digit days and nights and the water never froze.



Australorp drinking from a homemade chicken watererErik
also threw in this photo as a bonus, showing Iris, his Australorp hen,
“drinking from the single-nipple outdoor waterer we use when it’s not
below freezing.”




I wanted to end with a
quick reminder to anyone who’s still planning on entering our
homemade
heated chicken waterer contest
— the deadline is this
coming Monday, February 28.  If you’re just looking for an easy
way to keep your
chicken waterer from freezing, check out all
of the other great
heated
chicken waterer ideas

from our readers.  Either way, I hope your chickens stay hydrated
through these last cold weeks of winter!

We recommend our 3 pack
DIY kit
for making a
heated waterer for up to 50 chickens.  The CD that comes with each
kit includes complete instructions to help you build our favorite
heated options without any trial and error.




The heated waterer
we use in our own coop requires two buckets,
a
three foot length of pipe heating cable
($23), and the contents of
our kit.  With a layer of
chicken-friendly
insulation
, the
waterer is good down into the teens.

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