Aquarium heater makes heated chicken waterer

September 24, 2012 Posts 6 Comments

Chicken waterer made out of a kerosene canIt’s pretty simple really,
just insert a 25+ watt submersible aquarium heater inside an
appropriate closed container such as a CLEAN / NEW kerosene can and
plug it into a thermostatically controlled plug (can buy off the
internet). Works well into the 20s, doesn’t get too much colder that
that here.



My guess is it would
work at any temp if you gauge the heater wattage appropriately. 
Do note: the last heater I bought said “don’t use in freezing
weather.”  I’m not sure I understand that as a caution but I could
imagine it might have something to do with the amount of “time on
heating.” My thought is the plug in thermostat takes care of that
concern because it cuts the heater off at 42/44.  Please remember
though, I’m talking about SC where daytime temps almost always get
above freezing.  If I were in a colder climate I would call the
heater mfg and get technical advice–I still bet it works!!



— Mike Boynton



For
readers who want to follow along at home, Mike started with one of our homemade chicken
waterer kits and followed our simple instructions to make his
waterer.

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.

Adding heat tape to a chicken waterer

September 24, 2012 Posts 2 Comments

Adding heat tape to a chicken waterer to keep it from freezingMy name is Jim Hoffman, and
we live in New Bern, NC. We have used your little red
clicking waterer accessory for a few months now. We
installed three of them on the bottom of a 3 gallon drinking water
container available at Lowes or Home Depot.



They work great until
the weather got cold and the temperatures wanted to freeze the water
and the clicker accessory. What we did, is purchased a electric heat
tape cord, also available at Lowes or Home Depot in the pipe section.
They come in 3 lengths, 12 feet, 18 feet or 28 feet I think. Not very
expensive. Simply wrap the black part of the cord in a spiral format
around the tank to cover the most surface area.



Bucket chicken watererWe put our water on a stand
with galvanized legs. Attached the sensor to the galvanized leg to
measure temperature. When the temperature falls below 36 degrees, it
comes on automatically to insure bottle temp does not freeze. Also goes
off automatically. It provides just enough heat to keep the temp above
freezing and also keeps the clicker accessory from freezing as well.
Takes very little power to run as it is thermostatic.



Keep plug out of reach of chickensWe
use packing tape to secure cord to water jug and make sure chickens did
not pick at it. We also kept the plug connection outside the cage for
the same reason and out of chicken reach. Hope the idea helps you all.



— Jim Hoffman

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.

Heated bucket waterer with aquarium heater

September 24, 2012 Posts No Comments

Heated bucket watererHere 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.





Make chicken bucket waterer





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.













Adding an aquarium heater to the bucket waterer









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.















Bucket waterer lidStep 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.


—
Marcella Haller








You’ve
still got a week to pull together an entry for our homemade,
heated chicken waterer contest!
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.