keeping water unfrozen

[Mell]

yep returning until at least the new year they say

[Hilary B]

Sounds like the answer for those without access to clever devices is simply to take hot water when visiting the hens, and give them a chance to drink it while you are there. It may be less than ideal, but for those with 'off site' hens, I can't think of a viable alternative.

[Suechooks]

Sounds like the answer for those without access to clever devices is simply to take hot water when visiting the hens, and give them a chance to drink it while you are there. It may be less than ideal, but for those with 'off site' hens, I can't think of a viable alternative.

Thats what I do! I take flasks of hot water plus containers of cold and just defrost/refill 3 times a day. I turn the drinkers upside down and loosen the bottom at night so it doesn't freeze on the drinker. These are put inside buckets and surrounded by straw/old towels etc or put inside the bigger coops. So far in temperatures of -9 or -10 there's only been a thin film of ice on the top in mornings - easily breakable. The buckets give more of a problem but if they've got smaller drinkers refilled each time I go it seems to be ok. They're certainly not being affected in the egg department - most days getting 50% laying rate and most of the hybrids are through their second laying season.

[chris]

I'm seriously thinking of running leccy to my new coop/run. We're planning on going away at Christmas, so it'd be a good move for when we pop away for a day or two, when somone is looking after them.

On a side note, I can't believe how much food they're eating in this weather though, I'd read that they eat more to keep warm, etc - but flipping heck! 6KG is lasting ~two weeks. When I got them, it lasted them a month? A sack lasted me two months from my working out.. Not bothered like just shocked!

Think I might grab a couple sacks of feed extra incase the weather gets worse and I can't get to the farm to get more!

Edit, interested in those plastic horse trugs though - what do they look like?

[polo]

Hi Chris, there some on this page - the shallow ones.


Horse Feed Supplements, Buckets, Licks and Treats

I always have a few extras sacks of feed in the garage because living high in the Pennines we can get snowed in very quickly. Theres no point risking your neck for the sake of a sack of feed I think. Gives you peace of mind if nothing else..

Polo

[Mell]

Bear in mind the bigger the water surface area the more it will freeze !

[Hilary B]

Buckets can freeze through the sides as well as from the top, but anything too shallow WILL freeze up badly. The snow may actually help, at least they can eat snow!

[Mell]

Buckets can freeze through the sides as well as from the top, !

They can but they rarely do if the top is cleared daily, even in the -12 to -15 we got last time I didn't get a single frozen through bucket ! And I probably have more buckets to fill than most here

[Hilary B]

They can but they rarely do if the top is cleared daily, even in the -12 to -15 we got last time I didn't get a single frozen through bucket ! And I probably have more buckets to fill than most here

I wasn't talking about freezing solid, just that the sides are a 'surface' exposed (indirectly) to the cold as well, so that in some types of bucket, there may be a layer of ice all over the inside of the bucket as well as on the top!

[Glutton4...]

I wasn't talking about freezing solid, just that the sides are a 'surface' exposed (indirectly) to the cold as well, so that in some types of bucket, there may be a layer of ice all over the inside of the bucket as well as on the top!

When we emptied our buckets this morning, they were frozen all over the top and sides. We tipped them upside-down, leaving frozen buckets of water in their place!

[Mell]

To improve that rubbersied one ie flexible, and black !

[Snadger]

My water butt that I was using to fill the containers froze on the top and sides. When it thawed a bit the whole lot floated on top of the water, and rose up about one foot, ripping the guttering off as it went up!

[Mell]

playballs like from pits on the top of butts helps I've found, dosen't stop it completly saddly !

On my main horse trough I now have one side and the float chamber with playballs, that what would be exposed side then has a triple walled polycarbonate tightfitting cover as near water level as pos with reflective on the underside to keep the heat as much as possible into that side. On the opwn side I have a stainless steel colender set into the water in the corner nearest the water in valve, angled to the sun the theory being this will act a parabolic collector and heat a small portion of the water beneth it enough to rise up uder the inlet and keep it free of ice coupled with the animals watering, the inlet pip is heavily insulated and covered with woond to the side. Daily maintenance is checking the float has not iced up and removing surface ice. It has improved the freeze up no end. Some of it might help with chicken although I tend to think with the smaller volume movement and/or heat is a more viable answer for chickens. Still gotta come up with a solution for the ducks other than hot water in the sandpits every way, saddly can't find a black sandpit yet (or playballks) need a goth baby store lol

[Snadger]

At present I've got a plastic beer barrel (from my beer making days) I fill this with warm water and take itto the allotment to give water to four flocks of chooks.
Chip as much ice out as I can then fill the hole on each drinker with warm water.
This has to be done through the daylight hours (which is a pain at the mo) and they all drink heartily while i watch them, topping up if necessary.

On a different tack, oil has been mentioned as messy. year ago I bought a car which had no anti freeze in it only 'white water'. This is an oil/water emulsion used in engineering as a coolant.
Wife has just cleaned out the chip pan and I wondered if I whisk the oil up with some warm water until it emulsifies whether this could be an answer to frozen water, as theoretically it shouldn't freeze and the vegetable oil will do no harm to the chooks?

[Mell]

The oil won't hydrate the hens, it will push up their saturated fats & cholesterol making them fatter, the omega 6: omega 3 ratio will get seriously messed with, rather like they do with industrially fed chickens. Can't see that being a good by product in your eggs or for the health of the chickens really.

Studies show that rapeseed fed at 25% induced depression, increased feed conversion and anemia . Hydropericardium in ducks & chickens that died during the study was 100% although not all chickens died

So yes I believe you will harm them if you mix oil & water for them to drink.