Best Chicken and Pigeon Heated Water Dispenser

Keeping chickens and pigeons in a cold climate can be tricky. Here in Minnesota as a child I used to have to thaw the water for my pigeons 2 to 3 times a day. As you can imagine, this can be taxing for you as a hobbyist. For some, this is not just a hobby but a life link. People living off of their homestead need to have healthy, hydrated and producing chickens to feed their families. I will recommend some products that I have personally used to help make winters easier for you. Let my my trial and error save you hundreds as you progress your homesteading or hobby.

This heated chicken water dispenser has seemed to hold up the best for me. I have mine going on 4+ years even with a little bit of shredded cord. I am not sure if it is from my misuse or an animal but I taped it and it is still working. It has a few questionable reviews from customers online. Out of personal experience, I would disregard these reviews as this is one of my favorites. Obviously, an electrical product in any industry can not be perfect and does not last forever. However, I have been very pleased with this item. Check it out below. Make sure to order the 3 gallon one as the 2 gallon one is a completely different design.

https://amzn.to/4avM6hH

For pigeons, you want to get the plastic drinker that can sit on top of the heating pad. I have used various water jugs before but the easiest ones to use have this bigger handle. When you fill your drinker and go to flip it, the bigger handle does not only make things significally easier, but also puts less strain on your hands. The drinkers with the smaller handle meant for just a finger will cause your a certain amount of pain and discomfort if you have many waterers to do such as my self. Each pigeon or chicken section gets its own water dispenser. I have both 1 and 5 gallon dispensers depending on how many birds that section has. I do recommend having both as the 1 gallon drinkers will be easier to use when medicating your birds. Below, is the type that I personally use and recommend.

https://amzn.to/3O1BRYX

Chickens typically need a slightly different style of waterer however the pigeon dispenser above will work for smaller bantam style chickens. With many breeds having combs in both the male and female, I recommend the more open water dispenser like this one pictured below. This chicken water dispenser is good quality and easy to carry. I will say the plastic on this product is a little thicker than the pigeon waterer above so some states like Minnesota where I live, I like to have a heating lamp with this water dispenser sitting on the heating pad as a combo. This is just for the really cold states that get far into the negative degrees. If you already have these as your summer time drinker, we have an option below to save you money. 

https://amzn.to/3RUk6Mj

I have tried many heater pads over the years. I used to use and advocate for the plastic heating pads in the past until I realized that they have many draw backs. The specific pad I used to use was the red K&H Water Deicer. Not only is this product very spendy but I found that each winter I was replacing about half of them. For me, that was 4 out of the 8 which has you can imagine gets very expensive to replace. When I purchase I product, I like to get my value and use out of it. For this product, I did not seem to receive such efficacy and use. The one I seem to be having good luck with now is the metal heating pad from Amazon. The price is much more reasonable and I have yet to replace one of these for not working. The link below shows the one I am currently using. I do not expect them to last forever for this price, however the value is there for me so far and it has already paid for itself versus the red plastic deicer.

https://amzn.to/3NG6WkC

I will edit this article as I try out more products. I hope this article gave you some guidance in keeping your feathered friends hydrated in winter. Getting the chores done for your animals in less time and making the entire process a little easier on yourself will give you so much more enjoyment with them.

- Phil at the DIY Homesteader