Heated dog/horse buckets

[gootziecat]

Has anyone purchased the plug-in blue horse buckets for chicken waterers for winter? I've been looking at them thinking about drilling holes in the bottom for water nipples and wondered if anyone else has bought these and done that. Would love to hear about it.
Thanks!

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

Isn't the bottom where all the heating elements are? I have a blue heated dog bowl for my chickens now, not plugged in obviously lol and I like it better than using the normal chicken waterer. However after watching my chickens it's not something I'll use this winter. When they drink the drip their wattles in the water, this will cause frost bite.

I used a homemade cookie tin water heater during this past winter and it was awesome. I did keep it inside my chicken coop though, some people don't like that but I never noticed a difference in humidity with it in the coop vs when I took it out.

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/11/make-cookie-tin-waterer-heater-under-10.html

 

[gootziecat]

I have been using Fortex pans on cookie tins for the last few years. But a bird with long wattles or a beard ends up getting wet and that isn't a good thing in freezing temperatures. So I'm looking to go with water nipples on buckets. Yes, it's my understanding the heating elements are in the bottom of the bucket, so if the bucket has a false bottom to hold the elements, then it wouldn't be usable. I suspect this is the case. I don't want to spend money on the heated buckets to find out they won't work, so inquiring incase some one else had the same idea.

 

[henless]

How about using the horizontal nipples and drilling the holes up above the false bottom? That might work.

 

[amynrichie]

How about using the horizontal nipples and drilling the holes up above the false bottom? That might work.

Aren't these buckets "double walled?" I'm not sure the horizontal nipples would work at all.

Check this out: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...r-very-easy-heated-waterer-for-under-20-bucks

I think it is a much cheaper solution, actually. I only paid for the nipples, I had the bucket and the fish tank heater on hand already. So far, it has worked down to zero degree weather without the water pump circulating. If it becomes a problem in even colder weather, then I will add a pump for circulation.