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peppermint -> RE: Wandering Through (3/19/2017 9:40:47 AM)
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You should join a web site called backyardchickens.com. Tons of great information there about raising chickens as well as other types of birds and farm animals. You can read the arguments for or against adding heat to a coop during the winter, what to feed, how big a coop to make, etc.
To make a great winter waterer, use a tote (mine is 10 gallons) I bought from Walmart, horizontal nipples you can purchase from ebay (not the vertical ones), and a stock tank deicer that is safe to use in plastic. Drill holes in the side of the tote near the bottom for the nipples, put a hole near the top for the cord of the deicer. Since you get so much colder than we do you might need to think about insulating your tote which I don't do. If you do insulate it you'll have to figure out a way to cover the insulation so the chickens won't eat it. You just need to set the tote up so the nipples are about beak high. My girls learned to use the nipples within hours. They are really rather smart.
The first year we used the tote for winter water, the house sitter had to take a 5 gallon bucket outside to refill it. This last year I had a frostless faucet installed. I just hook a hose up to it, fill the tote, disconnect the hose, and I'm done.
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