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Wasted $80 on a fancy heated waterer that froze solid anyway
I bought one of those expensive heated chicken waterers last November thinking I was being smart for winter. First real cold snap hit here in Minnesota, temp dropped to 5 degrees, and that thing was a solid block of ice by morning. I was so mad I kicked it across the run and cracked the base. Turns out the heating element only keeps the water warm if it's plugged into a properly insulated outlet, which my coop setup absolutely is not. I called the company and they basically told me it needs to be in a sheltered area, not exposed to wind, which kinda defeats the purpose of having it outside for the birds. So I went back to my old way, a regular plastic waterer that I swap out twice a day with warm water. Has anyone else had better luck with those plug-in heated bases instead of the all-in-one waterers?
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williams904mo ago
Those plug-in bases work way better if you can keep them out of the wind.
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graceprice4mo ago
Read a blog post from some guy in Canada who swears by wrapping the plug-in base in foam board insulation and putting a piece of plywood over the top to block the wind. Said his water stayed liquid down to negative 20. I tried a similar setup with an old rubber feed tub flipped upside down over the base and it actually helped, but I still had to swap water on the really cold days. The heated bases just don't put out enough heat to fight a Minnesota wind no matter what you do.
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benk262mo ago
Yeah I had the same problem with mine. I ended up taking the whole thing apart and putting the heating element inside a five gallon bucket with a lid, then cutting a hole in the lid for the waterer to sit on top. Sealed up the gap with some silicone caulk. That trapped the heat and it stayed liquid through a couple polar vortex nights we had here in Wisconsin. Still froze once when we hit negative 30 but that thing is tough. You try putting yours in a bucket or a tote yet?
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