How do I keep water thawed?

There is no miracle substance you can add to water to keep it from freezing during the winter that would be okay for your chickens to drink. Until you have solved your electrical difficulties you will need to play on taking water out to your birds at least twice a day.

RonP said:

There are many, many articles and information written by those much more knowledgeable than myself, that reference the importance of proper ventilation to insure good respiratory and general health.

How does your refrigerator method address those issues and major concerns?

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Chickens nest in cavities, just like many parrots but closer to the ground. Burrowing owls nest at the end of an up to 3 meter long tunnel about the width of their body and not only breath well at the end of it, but raise a family there as well. I've never come across a critic ever who could point to anything that measured the ventilation in ppm for given enclosure or defined what is a recommended amount. Woodpeckers don't suffocate and we are discussing water, rather than full housing.

Not only have I raised many sets of chickens inside fridges, but I'm also the only person I know with any experience. You can claim that you have read many articles, anyone can claim anything. Giving a link to an article about using a fridge for chickens can only lead you back to me, because I'm the only one who has done it at this point. As the sole source of information on the subject, I can authoritatively state that chickens benefit greatly from an artificial cavity like a fridge. If you can link to any other article on using a fridge for chickens on the internet, I'd love to see it, it would be a first.

For water, the fridge is ideal because it eliminates infrared exposure to space. It reflects and retains any heating that you put into it, with only the most minor losses through the entrance. At a cost of $1 on an online auction, you can't get a better enclosure for the water, designed specifically to create a freezing to non freezing temperature barrier. It's the perfectly designed item that you need, and it's already built. You don't need a list of materials and tools to build one yourself.

Ridgerunner said:

My method is to water outside using a black rubber bowl [...] set where the sun can hit it. As long as the sun is shining passive solar heat will keep the water thawed in some pretty low temperatures. I know, the sun doesn’t always shine so when it is frozen I bash the ice out and refill it. Since it is rubber the bowl does not break.

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That is an excellent use of passive energy. Ultimate simplicity and ingenuity.

I can think of many other systems and ways to keep it heated longer, but nothing that simple.

The only thing I could offer would be to use one of those thermal blankets for car windscreens. They are extremely cheap of free and reflect the sun to thaw the water a lot faster on cold mornings. Doesn't get around the cloud issue though.

Incidentally you can use those thermal blankets as a fast and free solar cooker. Place the saucepan into a transparent plastic baking bag with the blanket set around it to focus the sun. There is at least one tutorial online somewhere. But for chicken water and just a few degrees rather than boiling it should be easy.

Did it ever occur to you that if you are the only one doing it, perhaps there are very good reasons for it...

Good luck with it, I wish you and your birds all the best.

GodofPecking said:

Not only have I raised many sets of chickens inside fridges, but I'm also the only person I know with any experience. You can claim that you have read many articles, anyone can claim anything. Giving a link to an article about using a fridge for chickens can only lead you back to me, because I'm the only one who has done it at this point. As the sole source of information on the subject, I can authoritatively state that chickens benefit greatly from an artificial cavity like a fridge. If you can link to any other article on using a fridge for chickens on the internet, I'd love to see it, it would be a first.

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RonP said:

Did it ever occur to you that if you are the only one doing it, perhaps there are very good reasons for it...

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I've always written it off as ' because I'm a genius '.

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Why thank you. The current odd dozen that are freeranging out of the fridge are doing great. One of them managed to get scared of a big bird ( or something apparently ) and in answering it's chirps I could hear from inside the house, I found it was impaled on a prickly bush. There was a few big drops of blood on my hand when I got it free, it ran off, that night I checked and the wound was in it's wing between the parallel bones. It seems to be doing fine too. I hardly can count them in the daytime because they are so spread out over the yard and combing through leaf litter. Busy busy busy. They are awesome.