Every year I leave my concrete birdbath out and every winter the water freezes over. This isn't so good because birds need water in winter. They need water that is not in the form of snow and not frozen for two good reasons: 1) To drink. 2) For good feather maintenance. When these needs are met, your birdies are happy and healthy and they might just spread the word.
Here is the problem.
I guess I'm just too lazy to carry this million ton birdbath into the garage, you may even be able to see some hair-line cracks (it still holds water), so I just leave it out. Then every winter when the water freezes over, I feel terribly guilty, especially when a little feathered friend lands on the ice looks down, maybe pecks a little, then flies away.
OK...I'm tired of disappointing them, so this year I've invested in a birdbath de-icer.
This is not jiffy pop.
This is the heater, it is by Farm Innovators, Bird Bath De-Icer Model B-9. Sold by Noble Sales Co, through Amazon. I chose this heater because I am frugal, I saw "Econo" in the title on Amazon and thought, let's start with the most inexpensive ($14.36) and work from there. It is a 44 watt heater. Lets see what happened....
It does just what it's supposed to!
After receiving the heater in just a few days I plugged it in at night on a solid two inches of ice. I anchored it down with a heavy rock, by morning it melted about 50% of the ice and here's the best part and I'm not lying.....in the morning a sparrow landed to take a drink...in less than 12 hours of plugging it in!!!
Woooo Hooo!
This birdbath de-icer worked for me. Why spend all that money on something more expensive? This is another great inexpensive Christmas gift for the nature lover in your life or maybe even for yourself! I just hope it lasts a good long time. Don't worry, I'll keep ya posted!
