Winter brings many challenges for the backyard chicken-keeper, and frozen water is chief among them. You can make your own waterer heater for use with either metal or plastic waterers. It will cost less than $10, cost pennies to run and you can complete the project in under ten minutes! 
We had record-breaking, sub-zero temperatures for long periods of time in 2010 here in Connectictut and my waterers never iced over the way they used to without these heaters. It doesn’t seem as though a humble, 40 watt lightbulb should be able to produce enough warmth to keep the water in a plastic waterer from icing over, but remarkably, it does!
Supplies:
-
10″, metal cookie tin (available at most dollar & thrift stores & likely in your garage or basement)
-
lamp assembly kit (available oniline, at hardware & home improvement stores OR buy a thrift store/tag sale lamp and take it apart)0
- 40 watt, incandescent light bulb (in deep-freeze conditions, use a 60 watt bulb)(in light of the government phase-out, some users recommend 40 watt candelabra bulbs or CFL bulbs, but I have not, so I cannot vouch for their effectiveness)
- Drill with 3/8″ drill bit
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Drill a hole in the side of the cookie tin.
2. String the pre-threaded lamp stem assembly through the hole & tighten the screw on the stem.
3. Screw in the light bulb. Voila!
TO USE:
Put the top on the cookie tin and place the tin on a cinder block or another level surface in the chicken run. Plug into a GFI outlet. Place metal or plastic waterer on top of the water heater when freezing temperatures are anticipated. Disconnect when not in use or use a ThermoCube to turn the unit on when temperatures reache 35°F.
When I made my first cookie tin water heater, I found it difficult to believe that this device, which barely felt warm to the touch, could possibly do the intended job. I was only convinced the first frigid morning I went out into the run and found no ice ring to chip out of the waterer. You may have to try it to believe it too.
Kathy Shea Mormino
Affectionately known internationally as The Chicken Chick®, Kathy Shea Mormino shares a fun-loving, informative style to raising backyard chickens. …Read on
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Winter brings many challenges for the backyard chicken-keeper, and frozen water is chief among them. You can make your own waterer heater for use with either metal or plastic waterers. It will cost less than $10, cost pennies to run and you can complete the project in under ten minutes!
We had record-breaking, sub-zero temperatures for long periods of time in 2010 here in Connectictut and my waterers never iced over the way they used to without these heaters. It doesn’t seem as though a humble, 40 watt lightbulb should be able to produce enough warmth to keep the water in a plastic waterer from icing over, but remarkably, it does!
Supplies:
-
10″, metal cookie tin (available at most dollar & thrift stores & likely in your garage or basement)
-
lamp assembly kit (available oniline, at hardware & home improvement stores OR buy a thrift store/tag sale lamp and take it apart)0
- 40 watt, incandescent light bulb (in deep-freeze conditions, use a 60 watt bulb)(in light of the government phase-out, some users recommend 40 watt candelabra bulbs or CFL bulbs, but I have not, so I cannot vouch for their effectiveness)
- Drill with 3/8″ drill bit
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Drill a hole in the side of the cookie tin.
2. String the pre-threaded lamp stem assembly through the hole & tighten the screw on the stem.
3. Screw in the light bulb. Voila!
TO USE:
Put the top on the cookie tin and place the tin on a cinder block or another level surface in the chicken run. Plug into a GFI outlet. Place metal or plastic waterer on top of the water heater when freezing temperatures are anticipated. Disconnect when not in use or use a ThermoCube to turn the unit on when temperatures reache 35°F.
When I made my first cookie tin water heater, I found it difficult to believe that this device, which barely felt warm to the touch, could possibly do the intended job. I was only convinced the first frigid morning I went out into the run and found no ice ring to chip out of the waterer. You may have to try it to believe it too.
Kathy…1st of all_ thank you soo much for this wonterful and informative blog!!! Quick question, do I need to have water inside the coop during the winter?My girls (7) coop have an automatic door opener/closer, and a heated waterer outside. However now that it drops below 30 deg. at night the water in their coop freezes. Prior to the drop in temperature, the waterer inside the coop didn't seem to get a lot of attention, so I am very tempted to remove it 'till spring. I'd really prefer not to have electrical wires inside the coop, but if necessary I will… Read more »
Hooray! I'm so happy to know these are working well for you!
Thank you SO much for this post! I have been busting ice for years, not wanting to spend an arm and a leg on those heated waterers. I've made 2 of these already and I LOVE them! Thank you!
That's great to hear! Please let me know how they work out for you!
I am so glad I found your blog yesterday because you had this wonderful idea to keep my chicken's water from freezing this winter in today's blog. Mine will cost me nothing but purchase of light bulbs sine I have lamp parts from other projects and tin cans I knew would come in handy one day. Now I am trying to figure if I can put 3 of the heaters under my horse's water trough. I never have any luck with the water heaters you put in the troughs.