Best Chicken Waterer for Winter

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One of my least favorite chores is watering chickens in winter. All the de-thawing and re-filling chicken water containers when my hands are wet and cold despite wearing gloves. Even in the double walled barn the temps drop below freezing and that means various trips to and from the house to thaw the ice. I have found the best chicken waterer for winter, at least for here on CG Heartbeats Farm.

I decided to try something new recently by emptying the chicken waterers at night. The next morning, I refill them. This reduces the amount of time and energy I spend waiting for ice to thaw. Since I am not carrying waterers into the house. it reduces the inside mess, as well. This only works for those days the temps are below freezing, but not terribly cold.

When the temps get down into single digits and below zero, I have a different strategy. I still use the same type of waterer but twice a day while I am feeding other animals, I rotate water to the chicken pens during the daytime. This method works for extreme cold when water freezes in a matter of minutes.

In the last few years, I found one chicken water container style that makes the task a bit easier all the way around. No pun intended for it is indeed a round container.

The cold has been slowly moving into our area. Soon I will once again be dealing with a lot of frozen water to thaw and replace here at CG Heartbeats Farm.

The hardest part for me when it comes to cold weather is dealing with ice and keeping water in front of the animals I care for.

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The style pictured to the right is hands down my favorite style in winter time.

There are various places to pick one up such as local farm stores, if that is where you prefer to shop.

The one pictured on the right is my choice option on Amazon. Click on it to order today.

I have found a chicken water style that fast became my favorite. Several reasons draw me to this functional idea, but largely the ease it creates when it comes to dealing with ice.

The design of the containers allows ice to be removed that has barely begun to thaw. This means way less time waiting to de-thaw and refill.

I still use the screw on type in some pens, but growl to myself at the longer time it takes to thaw and remove the ice. I hope to fade out the screw on kind or at least have enough of the other style to retire them during the winter months. An exception would be when using in the brooders, as the heat lamp provides enough warmth to slow the water freezing.

With this style of waterer, it is easy to know that the base is locked on. I have no idea how many times I have picked up a water container, full of water, only to have the lid slip off and water gush everywhere. For whatever root reason, my gut reaction is blood boiling. I feel angry. I should, perhaps, examine my reaction, but not for this post. Now however, when using this style of water container, I can look and know it is not going to slip loose and make a mess.

I have on at least 2 occasions had conversations involving the question of how to use this style that are a little different, but functional.

Other reasons I like this style:

Due to the flat design, there are no crevices in the upper part of the waterer. This means easier cleaning.

I have found the plastic to be durable as it is sturdy and flexible enough that I can lightly bump it against a wood post to loosen ice that is slightly melted.

Compared to screw on and bottle style design I am comparing this water container style to the kind with a screw on base, pictured below.

The optimal system would be rain barrels collecting water. PVC pipe to directing water to different pens with nipples in each pen for the chickens to drink from. This system would be almost maintenance free any time the temps are above 32 degrees. I hope to implement this as permanent outside pens are constructed. But the afore mentioned is not a winter solution.