In the Oct./Nov., 2009 issue, there was a helpful hint on a homemade waterer heater for the hen house. Then the following issue said it could be dangerous. That got me thinking—so maybe we don't heat the water and just heat the old hen house instead. Our hen house is about 8' x 8' and about 10' tall at the peak. There is a makeshift ceiling at about 7' which affords me just a small amount of clearance.

We change frozen water early in the morning and again late afternoon before closing the chickens in for the night. Our neighbors say that our chickens are spoiled and they're probably right.
Here's what I came up with for a heater.

1. I found three birds' mouth-type gate latches in my collection. I then mounted them to the side of our nesting boxes.

2. I had an old wire milk crate and I borrowed a small thermostatically controlled ceramic heater from my mom. I mounted the heater and crate to the latches and wired the clasp to the crate so that the latch was secure.

3. I then ran the wire out of the hand hole on the milk crate and attached the wire to power.

The finished heater hanging in place: Our chickens couldn't be happier. Not much of a fire hazard here. During the day when the sun is out, the heater is not turned on.