Waterers?

[Killerbunny]

I use the heated dog bowls in winter now. I used to use the heated chicken waterers but found them too awkward to refill.

[Ontario Chick]

QR_BBPOST I use the galvanized waterers like Ross showed earlier...altho i rarely can afford to buy stuff at TSC..lol"and I have yet to find a satisfactory way of keep water fluid in winter

Tom could you use solar?
None of my heated bases were more the $5, and last winter they were on for two weeks at the most, mostly at night.

[WLLady]

Heated dog biwls all the way here. I ran nipple waterers with a water circulator and heater for 2 years and it survived to -9. After that i was thawing nipples and fially gave up and hauled hot water. Never again. PITA.
The nipples are great in a bottle for birds in the summer but just dont in the winter. They start to freeze and then leak as they finish freezing and soak your bedding which feeezes...then frostbite.....gah...bad memories.
I bought heated dog dishes on sale from home hardware....i have extra thermostats for fixing them and i wont ever use anything else. For the outside coops i have two water base heaters for under the waterers but if you use a bigger waterer and fill it up you will keep the bottom thawes and the top with freeze solid like a hockey puck when its about -15.

[Robbie]

I wrap my buckets in the Reflectix aluminum bubble wrap, keeps them from freezing except for the top.

[TomK]

OC...i haven't as yet figured out the solar thing for small amounts of water like the waterers...electrically heating elements use far too much on a continual basis from the solar / battery bank...not worth it...the days away on severely cold days are the problem...when I'm around i just swap the waterer for a thawed one ...its easier than trying to keep things thawed...the lightbulb in the cookie tin works well enough to keep the bottom couple of inches in the galv waterer fluid till i get home on days away at work...Robbie's suggestion of the insulated wrap is a good one

[lolotsung]

It's says "easy to fill and clean"... The most you can do is rinse it out... The lid is welded on... Do galvanized waterers need to be cleaned with soap and water? They don't seem to get dirty like the plastic ones...

[ross]

I find plastic ones get mouldy in warm weather

[lolotsung]

They had this too... I was kinda put off by how expensive everything was... I told my daughter I'm not paying $20 for a plastic square nest... I'm using milk cartons lined with carboard boxes... So I walked out with shavings and feed which was $22 a bag

"Translucent plastic allows view of water level, color provides UV protection to prevent algae growth"

[Kbr42]

I've tried lots of waterers. I go back the 'red ones' and a heated dog bowl for the winter. They seem to work the best. The heated dog bowls I put in the coops in September so by November they are used to drinking out of them....but hey, I turned on my lights when it hit double digits in August.