Shepherdess milk bucket , what size heater ?

[andybk]

Just had a run of triplets , have a @flockeye feeder (same principle, just small cool box which is usually enough for one or two )
anyway bought a shepherdess with a bit better capacity at a sale couple years ago (£2 lol) as a back up , all there except heater , anyone know if its a 50w or 100w one ?, going to get another on ebay , and is heater mounted on side or base of bucket , thanks in advance

 

[neilo]

Just had a run of triplets , have a @flockeye feeder (same principle, just small cool box which is usually enough for one or two )
anyway bought a shepherdess at a sale couple years ago (£2 lol) as a back up , all there except heater , anyone know if its a 50w or 100w one ?, going to get another on ebay , and is heater mounted on side or base of bucket , thanks in advance

It wouldn’t really matter, a 50w heater would just run for longer to put the same heat into the water jacket.
If it’s just a fish tank heater then it just needs to stay constantly submerged, orientation won’t matter much.

 

[Nithsdale]

Don't bother with a heater. Ours stopped working 20+ years ago. Just put in fresh, very hot, water each time you put more milk in. The old/cold water is handy to sin out the milk bucket with, too.

 

[GrantMo]

Just bought this off eBay as a replacement heater for ours after last years darlings chewed through the wire, managed to get the exact same one as the old one - the 100W version of this deltatherm one. Mounted on the bottom of the bucket

 

[Filthyfarmer]

Don't bother with a heater. Ours stopped working 20+ years ago. Just put in fresh, very hot, water each time you put more milk in. The old/cold water is handy to sin out the milk bucket with, too.

Likewise when our bucket heater packed up years ago we used to put warm milk in the bucket. Now they get it cold with no problems at all. We warm up the milk for the bottles pre bucket trained though.

 

[NZDan]

We feed cold milk straight from the fridge, mix night and morning and into the fridge till the next morning and night, use the chilly bin to keep the milk cold.

 

[Longlowdog]

When I run a shepherdess I put the heater flat on the bottom. I find it difficult enough to get the bucket in without something else blocking the side.
I Googled 'what size aquarium heater' and I'd say a 50w heater would be well up to the job even in a cool shed. The information for aquariums is 1 watt per litre.
Aquarium heaters are designed to be used fully submerged.