Heated bucket waterer with aquarium heater

Here is what I used:

• 2-gallon bucket with lid
• 2 avian
  nipple waterers
• Tetra submersible aquarium heater with automatic thermostat (50W
  for $14.99)
• 2” cork or plastic plug for hole on top of the bucket (for
  cleaning and filling)

This is a very simple
design that could be easily adapted to suit your own specifications.
This waterer has been working great during these cold winter months [in
Nebraska] for my flock of 5 hens and one rooster inside my non-heated
chicken coop. We have not tested this outdoors, but it works well in
the coop.











Step 1: Start with a
2-gallon heavy plastic bucket with lid and handle. In the bottom of the
bucket I drilled two holes to insert the two avian nipple waterers.























Step 2: Turn bucket
upright. Using the suction cup on the Tetra submersible aquarium
heater, suction it to the bottom of the bucket. This heater can be
found at most pet stores – I bought mine online. This heater is
completely submersible and has an automatic thermostat that keeps the
water at 78 degrees. The heater has an indicator light that is red
while it is heating and green when it is off.















Step 3: Cut a hole in the
center of the bucket lid, approximately 2” diameter. Fashion a plug for
the hole out of cork (or I just used an aerosol can lid) with a slight
notch cut out to accommodate the heater cord. The purpose of the plug
is to keep the water clean and to also to make it easy to fill in
between cleanings.



Step 4: Your waterer is
ready to hang by the bucket handle. I used a rubber bungee to fix it to
one of the wall supports in the coop and ran an extension cord to plug
the heater into.