Farm Innovators Heated Chicken Waterer, Poultry Drinker Bucket, 2 Gallon

This review is for the heated chicken water with lid and nipples. I've been using this for about 6 months. I wanted to put it through a few real-world experiences before I gave it a review. I've purchased a number of water heaters for the chickens over the years and they never seem to work. This one does! This week the low was -14F with a windchill of -35F and the nipples did not freeze up. I test them every morning and night. The lid did freeze shut but that was ok for my purposes. The heated water is inside an unheated/un-insulated coop. The water stays clean and the chickens don't roost on the lid. The lid has never come off. I don't hang it, it's just sitting on a few pieces of lumber. I love the fact that I can take a gallon of water out during the week when it needs to be topped off and just remove the lid and pour. No water spilling or messing around flipping the waterer over. I give this product a 5 star review. My chickens have been laying consistently, and I think it may be because they always have water to drink not just in the morning and night when I would take out fresh water.

Bought it on Amazon, found it $20 cheaper on sale locally, returned it unopened. That being said, this heater is a great product and here are the reasons. The heating element is on the bottom, completely enclosed and impervious to any weather, and when I first plugged it in, I didn't even think it was working but I filled it with water and left it overnight outside in 15° weather. Voila...next morning the water was room temperature. The 3 little cups on the side did not freeze either. I put it in my coop...showed one bird how to use it (picked her up and shoved her beak in the little cup) and within a half hour they were all crowded around getting a drink. It has a wide, one hand removeable cover for easy filling...I just take a small bucket of water to the coop and pour it in. You can either hang it or set it on a cement block like I did. Even with the discounted price it seemed expensive but, trust me, this is a good unit and well worth the money.

I wish this was the first one I bought. Works greatEasy to fill water stays clean

I love this waterer. I held off doing a review because I needed to see it stand the test of time. 2022/2023 will be it's third winter since I've owned it.It keeps water thawed. It does exactly what it's supposed to. My chickens use it with ease.A simple tip to help people who's chickens have never used a nipple waterer before: take away all other sources of water and only provide this. Even take your finger or a stick and poke the metal nipples so that water comes out (make sure you have at least ONE chicken watching). They'll get it. But if you have ANY other waterers, they will never use this. So don't start this waterer if you have small chicks or it's 98°F outside. A cool spring or fall day. They'll get it.Edit on 11/18/2022: at some point, I must have gotten the base wet. Our first official freeze and the waterer didn't thaw. I didn't notice for 3 days. Went into the coop to refill the waterer and noticed the water line hadn't moved. Opened the lid and it was solid ice inside. Took it in the house, unscrewed the base, lifted the bottom off, and saw ice. The base isn't sealed off in any way, so when I washed the inside over the summer, water must have gotten in and I didn't notice. Froze the whole heating element and now it's garbage. Super sad about it. And now they're, like, $25 more than when I originally purchased. Took away 2 stars for the designing of the base. Not water-proof in any way.Edit - 01/06/2023: my husband and I took apart the base on 11/18/2022. He fixed the corroded parts, we dried the entire base, let it sit with a fan pointed on it for OVER 24 hours, then put it all back together. And it worked. It worked through multiple freezes. It was awesome. I check it every morning, though, so I know my chickens have water. Checked it on 01/04/2023, and it was frozen solid. So now I'm thinking it's condensation instead of ANY fault of mine. That base was bone-dry when we put it back together. Heck, the whole thing was dry. The base is extremely faulty and is the entire reason why this waterer is garbage. We won't purchase a new one and will figure out something else.

Works well. Keeping water clean and unfrozen during harsh temperatures in winter.

Why did you pick this product vs others?:Used this waterer for an entire winter and it held up well. It's well put together with no issues after six months of use. The rubber fill plug is very firm and seals perfectly. Had a week of sub-zero temperatures this past winter, including overnight lows that averaged -7 degrees, and the water never froze.

I used this heated water bucket in my chicken coop over this past winter in Maine and I’m happy to report that the water in the bucket did not freeze at all even when some days the temps dipped to -20 degrees. I’m very happy with this purchase.

Okay so heres the deal. I purchased this for my chickens. I live in NW Montana. It gets really cold here in the winter and we get lots of snow. I purchased this with the intent of hanging it in the chicken coop (It does have a plastic hook to hang it). I didn't want to set it on the ground. I wanted to hang it. Purchased and received in September. Hung it in the coop right away. Worked fine in the warm weather. Went out to the coop yesterday (December 12) and it was sitting on the ground. The plastic hanger on the unit itself broke. Had to use coat hanger wire to make a new hanger. Can't believe the hanger on this unit is plastic. Positive note: the unit works well keeping the water warm enough so it does not freeze. Disappointed that the hanger is plastic and broke. Additionally (as I found out the hard way) this stops working when the temperature drops below 0. We had some of those days. Went out to the coop and the water was frozen. In the companies defense, the owners manual does say that the unit does not work below 0 degrees. Buyers beware.