Found a simple trick for keeping the waterer from freezing

I live in Minnesota where it gets real cold. Every winter I fight with frozen chicken waterers. Heated ones are expensive and break after one season. Last December I tried something dumb. I took an old cooler and cut a hole in the lid big enough for the waterer base. Fill the cooler with hot water before bed. Wrapped the waterer with an old towel inside the cooler. It stayed liquid for nearly 14 hours straight. Even when it hit 8 degrees outside. My girls had fresh water all night. Has anyone else tried a DIY method like this that actually held up in deep cold?

2 comments

2 Comments

nathan_foster6013d ago

Did you try adding some sort of insulating layer under the cooler or was it just sitting on the frozen ground?

cameron_chen6313d ago

Oh yeah I learned that one the hard way @nathan_foster60. First time I tried this setup I just threw the cooler right on the frozen dirt and came back the next morning to everything half thawed out. The ground was basically sucking all the cold out of the cooler through the bottom. Now I always put down a couple layers of cardboard or a foam sleeping pad underneath. Even a folded up moving blanket works in a pinch. Just anything to break that direct contact with the frozen ground so the cooler can do its job. It made a huge difference for me, my stuff stayed frozen for days after that.