Winter Chicken Water Update

I posted awhile back about keeping chickens water from freezing in winter.  What I have found is totally worth it is the combo below:

5 gal galvanized waterer with heater base

Galvanized heater with thermostat turns on when needed $45.00

5 gal waterer, galvanized $30.00

Not cheap but the safest combo I have found that consistently seems to keep water fresh not frozen (except in temps around zero degrees).  The cookie tin/light bulb heater I cooked up and used previously was not able to keep the water from freezing in the teens, even with a smaller capacity  waterer.  5 gallon capacity on the waterer means I only need to fill this once a week for a dozen chickens.  A 3 gallon setup we have at Garden Dreams needs to be filled at least twice a week.  This makes my chores so much easier.

 The reviews for these waterers complain about rust problems within a few years (galvanized metal ain't what it used to be?) so we shall see how they hold up.  Many folks seems to favor a birdbath or aquarium heater over the platform heater.  There seems to be no perfect winter setup, but happier with this than other things I have tried, at least so far.

cattle panel hoop keeps everything dry