Introduction: Insulated Watering Place for Chicken

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About: Mostly harmless

I live in northern Sweden and we have some very harsh winters here.
i have 17 chicken which are thirsty even if it's -30°C cold.

Obviously i have to heat up the drinking water to prevent it from freezing.
there are different ways to do that, heating plates or in my case a heating cable.

To prevent heat-loss i decided to build an insulated drinking place, to make sure the heat stays where i want it :)
- also as an energysaver of course!

My design works really well, is inexpensive and easy-build.
It prevents the water from freezing until -10°C without any heating source but all temperatures below that you'll have to start the heater.

I hope that some chicken owners will use this!



Step 1: Gathering Materials

materials you'll need:

- a chicken drinker ( in my case 4 liters) - the simple and cheap ones are the best.
- a big bucket ( the drinker has to fit in it with about 5cm/2 inches) space to all sides.
 if you can find a bucket with straight sides take that one!
 i used a 20liter bucket with a lid
- 1 cartridge of building foam
- aluminumfoil
- strong duct tape

tools you'll need:

-battery drill
-sharp knife
-hole saw ca 7-8cm / 3 inches diameter
-water filled spraybottle
-a file or sanding paper

eventually a heating source
i used a special heating cable that can be situated in water (pictured)
a heating plate fitting underneath the drinker will also work.

add your heating source as the description of the manufacturer allows it.





Step 2: Wrap the Drinker in Foil

Add a "sausage" made of aluminum foil in the water channel of the drinker  - it should be higher than the edge of the channel.
then wrap the whole drinker in aluminum foil and seal the crossings with tape.

Step 3: Insert the Drinker Into the Bucket

this part is hard for me to explain in another language hope you'll get it anyway :)

place the wrapped drinker head first into the bucket  with as much space as possible between the bucketground and the top of the drinker (you can use styrofoam pieces as placeholder/spacer)
the hole drinker has to be INSIDE the bucket of course.

Step 4: Building Foam

if you figured out the right position, take the spraybottle and spray the hole bucket and drinker lightly with water ( that helps the building foam to expand).

now you'll have to fill the spaces between drinker and bucket with building foam - make sure that you covered your working area with newspaper - this stuff is very sticky!

first fill the space on the bucket-ground with a small amount of the foam (make sure that yout styrofoamspacers stay in place!)
then insert the drinker and fill the space between the walls.

if all is filled you have to put som weight on the drinker - i used a 5-liter beerbarrel :)

now wait about 24 hours to allow the foam to dry.


Step 5: Trim the Foam


Trim the foam that may overflowed with the sharp knife,

take out the drinker just unwrap the aluminum-foil and take it out.
The foil stays in the bucket - see the pictures!

(- you may have to trim the foam around the water channel, if it's not straight edged)

Step 6: Holes for the Thirsty Chicken

Determine the position of the hole(s) for the chickenheads.
when using a hole saw, the center of the hole needs to be at the top of the water channel
- I hope this is reasonably expressed.

drill a hole from the inside of the bucket  to the outside - slightly above the impression in the foam left by the water channel
- I hope you can follow me

equip the battery drill with the hole-saw and position its centerdrill ( if there's one) in the newly drilled hole ( this time from the OUTSIDE of the bucket!!!)
now saw until you're through the bucket wall - try not to saw through the foam.

now the foam is exposed - trim it with a knife, everything underneath the edge of the drinking channel can stay in place - the more isolation material the better is the result.
see the pictures for explanation.

now clean the sharp edges of the plastic with a file or sanding paper.


Step 7: Tape the Hole!!!

very important:
Tape the hole with duct-tape!

the chicken will eat all isolation material they can find.

Make sure that ALL foam they could reach is covered!

i used clear tape at first but it's not strong enough - so take the strongest textile-duct tape on the market :D

Step 8: Make a Stand Out of the Lid

if your bucket has a lid you may build a stand out of it.

you have to figure it out individually but maybe are my pictures a help.

you can also stuff all possible spaces with insulation material - just make sure that the chicken can't reach it.


Step 9: Open the Bar!

finished and ready to use!

the chicken will  figure it out very quickly.

mine keeps the water unfrozen until -10°C without the heating cable plugged.