Alternate method to prevent water freezing.

Extremely informative article. Great use of natural resources and the composted manure can be used as fertilizer in the garden the following year. Win-win all around. Thank you!
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Wow! Great article!
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This is a great idea, very scientific. Unless your chickens are as messy as mine, and the water will get full of manure and dirt
R2elk
R2elk
Keeping the top of the bucket at least 4" above the ground level helps keep dirt, etc. from being kicked into the bucket.
Wonderful article! Very detailed.
Clear, concise instructions. Very effective photos. I appreciate the science.
What a great idea! :clap
amazing!! thanks for sharing
This is fabulous! Why have I never thought of this before! :clap
Great idea and useful for so many peeps! Thanks. ?
Great idea and good use of natural resources.
And I thought I was the only person that did this.:)
Here it gets quite warm and I have to remember to wet the composting soil once in a while but otherwise the system works fine.
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If you made this up, way to think outside the box! Thanks for sharing the idea regardless!:clap:thumbsup
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R2elk
R2elk
Thank you. Yes, I made it up based on the premise of the hot beds we used to use to give plants an early start for the garden.
I reference this article frequently when others are struggling to keep water unfrozen.
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Very good article about using ground heat to keep water from freezing in a water bucket for the flock.

An update after next winter to let us know how it worked would be nice
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R2elk
R2elk
I have been using this method for over 20 years. At temperatures down to 0°F, there is no ice that forms in the bucket. At temperatures down to -20°F, an ice layer up to 3/8" can form overnight. I remove the ice layer the first thing in the morning and the water stays open for the remainder of the day. At temperatures down to -30°F, the ice layer can get as thick as 3/4" to 1" thick overnight. Again, removing the ice layer in the morning allows the water to stay open for the rest of the day.
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