Though the winter is setting in reluctantly, we have had a few cold nights where the chicken’s water iced up. A quick check at the feed store, Tractor Supply, and Amazon found chicken waterers like this:
Unfortunately, the cost of one of these babies is between $40 and $50. That’s a lot of chicken feed! So, to the farm cycling pile I went for inspiration.
Materials I discovered were already on hand: Old cookie tin, incandescent lightbulb, silicone sealer, electrical tape. I purchased another $4.50-worth: Rubberized light socket ($2.49) and two-pronged plug ($1.99).
Tools required: Tin snips, screw driver, wire strippers, and caulk gun.
How-to is simple: cut a hole in the side of the tin, poke the socket through, caulk it with silicone, and install the plug on the wire ends. I unintentionally left a bit of room around the hole where light escapes and shines through the silicone, making it easy to tell if it’s on or not.
Even though the store-bought heaters I found were 100 to 125w, I used a 60w bulb because I had one on hand. It worked like a champ down to 20 degrees last week, but I think a 40w or even 25w would be sufficient.
End result: Same effect at 10% of the price!
EDIT: My wife made an excellent suggestion this morning. Cookie tins aren’t as common as they once were, but you can find them inexpensively at craft stores (Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, etc). She noted that they were 60% off this week at Jo-Ann’s Fabric, and since they were in holiday themes you could easily use them to add some decorative cheer to the coop!
A Joyful Birth
Posted by shorelineclusterpoets on November 30, 2011 at 8:43 pm
This is great. Thanks for sharing. This is my first winter with chickens and I was debating buying one of those expensive heaters… now, I may just follow your lead. Thanks.
Posted by The Flying T Ranch on December 1, 2011 at 1:50 pm
You’re welcome! I think my wife is starting to wonder if I’m somehow related to Fred Sanford the way I come home with farmcycling “treasures” all the time, but sometimes they pay off! Next possible project: I spied some granite countertop shipping support stands (overbuilt from 2x4s) set out on the curb on my way to work today, and I started thinking they’d make great pasture hayfeeders… We’ll see if they’re still there on the way home.
Posted by Joanna on December 3, 2011 at 4:11 pm
I do like resourcefulness! Well done for this great ‘invention’ and thanks for stopping by my blog earlier today.
Posted by shorelineclusterpoets on December 4, 2011 at 10:45 pm
I wanted to say thanks again. I bought the parts today at Home Depot and put together my own water heater. Looks okay, should work great… and saved me 40 bucks!
Posted by The Flying T Ranch on December 4, 2011 at 10:46 pm
Awesome!
Posted by barefootinvt on December 5, 2011 at 9:45 pm
oh dear. we were amongst the people who went to Tractor Supply for the heater, but I am afraid that it was not really worth the investment. Our girlies will be warm this winter but my husband is not convinced it will last for another. Thanks so much for sharing!!
Posted by Liz L on December 8, 2011 at 11:39 am
Who says incandescent bulbs are bad? Congrats on the way to use other parts/recycle!
Posted by Matt on December 12, 2011 at 7:54 am
Thanks! I was inspired by your post to make my own, and just put out some home-made heaters. I ended up buying some hog pans, due to a lack of cookie tins. It was still much less than buying pre-made heaters, and I am confident I can fix them if they break.
Posted by The Flying T Ranch on December 12, 2011 at 9:54 am
Awesome. A bonus on the hog pans is that they’ll provide a larger, more stable base, though we haven’t had a problem with ours. If the waterer gets too empty, they can tip it over, but that was the case before as well (we’ve got the entire assembly on top of a cinder block to keep it elevated from the bedding).
Posted by The Flying T Ranch on December 13, 2011 at 9:38 am
My wife made an excellent suggestion (I’ll edit the post with this). Cookie tins aren’t as common as they once were, but you can find them inexpensively at craft stores (Michael’s, Hobby Lobby). She noted that they were 60% off this week at Jo-Ann’s Fabric, and since they were in holiday themes you could use them to add some decorative cheer to the coop!
Posted by Tammy White on February 2, 2012 at 6:47 pm
Super job!
Posted by headingoutside on November 22, 2012 at 11:37 am
Hello! Love this idea. I need a heater for my 2nd coop, and was reluctant to buy another heater. This is the perfect solution. Thanks!
Posted by The Flying T Ranch on November 23, 2012 at 6:10 am
Glad it will help. I wish I could claim that this was an original idea of mine!
Posted by Lynnie on November 27, 2012 at 4:36 pm
Brilliant! Down here in LA I don’t know that we need a heater – but if we do, I know just the blog post to return to!