It seems like all the chicken waterers we buy do not last long enough for what they cost (at least in my eyes). The plastic waterers with a built in heater are either nearly impossible to fill, or if they do get unplugged or there is a power outage in cold weather, they are cracked and useless. There are also heated metal bases, which don’t seem to last more than a couple years and cost 40-50 bucks.
So, it’s time to enter the world somewhere between Red Green and Eli Whitney. I took the two non-working old metal base heaters, used the cord from one, attached an outdoor electric box, socket, and heavy duty light bulb inside the top base, drilled holes in the bottom base to drain water if any dripped in, and connected them together with a combination of sheet metal screws and Gorilla tape.
Here’s the completed base hard at work in the coop. I’m thinking it might not be a bad idea to wrap some of the metal-foil bubble insulation around the unit and the waterer – at about -10 this one still freezes up.