A smaller, Jean-Pain style compost pile to keep water from freezing?

Would this work? I'm trying to think of a way to keep chicken water from freezing in the winter that doesn't require electricity, since we're not hooked up to the grid. I was thinking I could build some kind of miniature wofati shed that's the right height for chicken nipple waterers and then build a Jean Pain style compost pile on top of it... don't need (or want!) the water to be hot but would need to keep it from freezing. Has anybody done something similar?