How do you keep Water from freezing

I read that if you float a ping pong ball in an open waterer it will keep the surface from freezing longer.

My waterer (until today) has been a 2 gal cooler with a brite tap. I would take it in every night. In the morning I'd fill a stainless steel bottle with hot water and drop it into the cooler of room temp water before bringing it out to the coop. System worked well to keep water unfrozen. Only have had to add warm water at lunch a few times so far this winter.

However, the nipples DRIPPED......A LOT..... and I don't want my girls' feet/combs wet, so we built a horizontal nipple bucket waterer we saw here on BYC. It has a bird bath de-icer and is on a thermocube. Just put it out today so I can't comment on how well it works, but .

jennianne said:

I read that if you float a ping pong ball in an open waterer it will keep the surface from freezing longer.

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This works, but has limits. Mine froze solid at 19 degrees recently. Luckily its easy to remove ice from the rubber tubs. The chickens also may steal the ping pong balls

My husband just bought a shallow metal tub and a bird bath de-icer from tractor supply this week so maybe that will work, needs electricity though

A really long extension cord and a headed dog bowl. We don't have power in our coop either but we run a 100' outdoor extension cord out to the coop in the winter. The first year we just hauled water twice a day. That got old quick so we ran the cords and got the heated bowl. We did try a heated "Chicken waterer" but it got so nasty. It was also a pain to fill and clean. The dog bowl is simple. Dump, rinse, fill.

I intend to build an insulated water bucket system in hopes of keeping the water containers my ducks use to drink/dunk their head from freezing during the day.

Materials (this is for 2x insulated bucket systems):
2x 5 gallon bucket from HD = $6
6x cans of expandable foam = $24
4x 5 quart bucket from Amazon = $22

Cost = $51 (or $25.50 per bucket)

Instructions:
1. Empty two cans of insulating foam into each five gallon bucket. You want foam to be at least 6" below bucket rim
2. Press one 5 quart bucket into the 5 gallon bucket so that the 5 quart bucket's rim is level with the 5 gallon bucket's rim and residual foam is pushed out around the edges of the 5 quart bucket
3. Put on lid 5 gallon bucket. This will allow foam to expand and keep the 5 quart bucket's top rim in line with the 5 gallon bucket's top rim during foam expansion
4. Once the foam has expanded use final can to fill in any remaining gaps between the outside of the 5 quart bucket and the inside of the 5 gallon bucket
5. Allow to foam to cure for two days
6. Cut a hole out of the 5 gallon bucket's lid so that you have access to the internal 5 quart bucket
7. The internal 5 quart bucket is glued in place because of the foam. Stack the second 5 quart bucket into the first 5 quart bucket. The 2nd 5 quart bucket is what will be filled with water daily and will allow you to transport water to and from your house/hose without disrupting the 1st internal 5 quart bucket. The lid will ensure the that foam stays in place.

I live in zone 6B (MD) so it generally temperatures dip to the low 20s at night and stays in the low 30s during the day during the winter months. I'm hoping this system will keep the water unfrozen during the day. At night, I'll grab the 2nd quart bucket out of the system, dump any remaining water and bring it inside. Each morning I'll then replace the water in the 5 quart bucket. I have only 4 ducks so this should be plenty of water for them to drink/dip their head into each day during the winter months.

Anyone tried anything like this? How do you think this system would work considering the quantity of water needed and my temperature zone?

BTW, I already use a 5 gallon water system during the spring/summer/fall months. That system uses two 5 gallon buckets that are screwed to two parallel 2 x 4's. The 2 x 4 along with the bucket are then buried about 8" into the ground so that the bucket rims are neck height for the ducks. I then add/stack an additional bucket and use them as the actual water buckets. This ensures that the water buckets always stay upright, are level and are at the right height for the ducks at all times. It also makes it easy to replace the water each night before I go to bed.

I'll post pics after these insulated water buckets are built.

smithmal

I just toss a tank heater in there and keep the Heat gun handy.

I don't have electricity in my coop either, but I ran a long outdoor extension cord. Here is my method. I found a old wheel well from a tire and filled it with sand and coiled up outdoor rope lights in the sand. Then I set the waterer right on top and it fits perfectly. no more frozen water. Its the same method we use in the greenhouse to sprout pepper seeds. This is my first post by the way- hello!

hiveandhome said:

I don't have electricity in my coop either, but I ran a long outdoor extension cord. Here is my method. I found a old wheel well from a tire and filled it with sand and coiled up outdoor rope lights in the sand. Then I set the waterer right on top and it fits perfectly. no more frozen water. Its the same method we use in the greenhouse to sprout pepper seeds. This is my first post by the way- hello!

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Welcome H&H! Intrigueing!

Just to follow up on an old thread, I made a new thread discussing how I made my insulated water pails in depth. You can read about it here.

Thanks,

smithmal

FarmGirl01 said:

I used the rubber tubs also. They won't break and will absorb the sun's heat and melt faster. I always empty them out at night and refill them in the morning. I also check them and knock out the ice often. When I had electricity in the barns I used a heated water base used for pet water bowels.

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I recently bought a 15 gallon rubber tub but it stinks so bad I'm thinking about lining it with plastic. Just wanted to make sure that none of the plastic was toxic to them first. However it does say it's eco-friendly and it's meant for barn animals to eat out of so I hope it's okay LOL

skunknchatter said:

A really long extension cord and a headed dog bowl. We don't have power in our coop either but we run a 100' outdoor extension cord out to the coop in the winter. The first year we just hauled water twice a day. That got old quick so we ran the cords and got the heated bowl. We did try a heated "Chicken waterer" but it got so nasty. It was also a pain to fill and clean. The dog bowl is simple. Dump, rinse, fill.

Click to expand...

I've been doing this. Have the bowl propped up on bricks. Works great!