How to get water to water bowls in winter?

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pinkforestcall

pinkforestcall

Hatching
6 Years
Jan 16, 2014
5
0
7
Spokane, WA
So I have what might be is a really dumb question, but here goes....

My chicken coop is several hundred yards from house and far from water spigot. Right now the way I fill my watering devices for my birds is I just run a hose and fill up that way.

But with Winter approaching...the hoses are not going to be usable b/c the water left sitting inside will freeze.

The water spigot will also not be usable because when my sprinkler system gets blown out for the season- the water supply to that spigot will be turned off. The only water spigot left to use will be one on my back porch.

Will the one on my back porch still run water even if we are in freezing temperatures?

How do other people get water to their animals when they live on a big property?
For instance if I had horses how would I get water to them in the winter?

I know this may seem stupid, but I am from Texas where it rarely freezes. Now I am in Washington.

Thank you.
 
I have a 15 gal cooler next to my coop with a pump to pump water through pvc pipe with chicken nipples, then it is returned back to the cooler. In other words it just circulates. I have a submersible heater in the cooler also. every three days I take out a 5 gal. pail of water and put it in the cooler, its kidda a pain but this is what works for me.
 
I carried water for years in winter, but this summer we rented a 4' trencher, and installed a buried water line to the coop, with an all-weather hydrant. Wonderful!!! We have cold winters, and months when the hose is useless. Mary
 
I agree, a frost-free hydrant close to the coop is great! But if you can't afford that, then you can use any faucet that is turned on in winter. Most faucets coming out of the foundation of a house use a non-freezing type of spigot. If you have one of those, you should be able to carry water from there in buckets or watering cans. On the bright side, it's good exercise and many of us need that even more in the winter. On the less bright side, carrying 2 full containers of water across a sheet of ice is pretty hazardous.
 
We need to carry water from a spigot, probably 300 yards away. I'd love for Hubs to run water to the coop but so far he's said no. Since he usually handles the water I can't bug him too much. Maybe after this winter (our first with chickens), he'll change his mind.
 
I don't have a working outdoor spigot at the moment, so I carry water in clean milk jugs. The handles do make it easier to carry and they aren't too heavy. We shall see how that goes when its icy and I have to go across to the coop.
 
I load up a kids' plastic sled with my milk jugs of water and pull it out to the coop. Last year's sled cracked so this year I might use one of those black plastic tubs for mixing concrete. Drill two holes for a rope and away we'll go.
 
We raise cows. if the tank is not near the hydrant we do use a hose, even in the winter. The way you get past the freezing is to be sure and empty the hose after every use. My husband does this by putting the hose on a hook as high up as he can reach and then pulling the hose back to him. it is a bit of work, but it ensures that he can use the hose the next time. Because he cannot protect the hydrants from freezing, he also carries a blowtorch with him in the winter, to defrost a frozen pipe.
 

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