Inexpensive chicken water heater

[thistlebloom]

I use the heated dog bowls also. It's seems the easiest for me, and it's made for outdoor use. I also raise it a bit like Bee, and last year had to put 2" x 4" wire around it to keep a couple of knuckle heads from roosting on the edge.

 

[MontyJ]

For inside the coop, I use a 1 gallon metal feed pan with a heat lamp hanging about a foot and a half over it. Works like a champ. If the run has a covered place, the same method would work outside. Our chickens rarely go outside when it's bitter cold, so we generally don't bother with it. If they do go outside and get thirsty, they know where the water is.

 

[Beekissed]

Those heat lamps sure pull a lot of electricity.

 

[catjac1975]

I would worry about it burning down your chicken house. Also today's bulbs are all made in China. I use them to heat the house for chicks. They burn out very often and easily. If a drop of water touches it it will fail.

 

[MontyJ]

It's a 150W bulb. My TV uses more. I wonder how many watts those heated dishes use.

 

[MontyJ]

It can't burn down the chicken house if it can't touch anything flammable. I safety wire the fixture to the ceiling so it can't fall.

 

[Beekissed]

It's a 150W bulb. My TV uses more. I wonder how many watts those heated dishes use.

That would be 25 watts.

 

[MontyJ]

Really? I would have thought it would be a little more. Certainly not nearly 150, but not as low as 25.

 

[journey11]

Yeah, I've been using a heated dog bowl too. Just wondering if there was a better way. Sometimes the surface of the water will ice over if the wind is cold and blowing hard enough. No room in my little coop for the food or water.

 

[thistlebloom]

My chickens have to eat and drink outside too. The food is in a lean-to connected to the coop, and the water dish is by the gate for my convenience, I have to shovel paths for them during the winter or they would never make it to water on their own through the snow.