Erik 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:
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.
Erik
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. |
