My husband got me one of your
DIY kits for
Christmas (with strong hints on my part). I was hoping it would
cut down on my morning chores and eliminate the messy water clean
up. I must say it exceeded expectations.
Dan set me up with two 2
gallon buckets. One has 3 of the nipples and the other (yet to be
used – saving it for summer) with 2. The one in use is suspended
from a top beam in our mobile coop with two pieces of chain.
Cleaning is almost non
existent. I take the bucket down every few days for a complete
refill. Daily fill up consists of using a narrow spout
watering can to replenish as necessary. The coop is dry and the
hens have access to water 24/7.
Once the cold weather
hit us I did need to devise a way to keep the waterer from
freezing. My method is so simple it’s ridiculous. I had Dan
enlarge the hole in the lid so it would be big enough to fit an
electrical plug though it. Then I threaded the cord of a
submersible bird
bath deicer up thru the lid, plugged it into the electrical outlet in
the coop and, viola, problem solved! I have multiple hooks on the
suspension beam so when it’s time to clean, I just unplug the deicer
and hang it from one of the other hooks.
I do love your
product! My chickens learned to use the nipples within 5
minutes and it has made my chicken raising experience much more
pleasant!! Thanks for making this great device available.
Don’t know what I’d do if I had to go back to scrubbing a traditional
waterer.
— Betsy Beach
This
is one of the great entries that have been pouring in for our homemade,
heated chicken waterer contest.
You’ve still got time to enter, so put on those thinking caps and pull
out your camera!
| 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. |
I have had a submersible bird bath heater in the five gallon bucket for two months now. It has kept the water fluid. However, perhaps too warm. I question the potential for germ and/or unwanted bacterial growth in the warm water over an exteneded period of time. I have added Vodka a few times to disinfect, or in hopes of disinfecting. The chickens don’t seem to have minded, nor was egg
production or taste affected.