A winter watering idea. Anyone else do this?

[ricky bamboo]

A little trick i've come up with is putting a bucket of fresh snow in the coop everyday along with a bucket of fresh water.... the water freezes after 5 or 6 hours, but the snow stays soft so they can peck and eat it. They think it's a treat and keeps them happy until the next morning when i can change it all up again.

 

[MissPrissy]

Eating snow lowers the core body temp. Eating snow for water isn't recommended by survivalists for man nor beast.

 

[EllyMae]

Well if ya think about it, if the water isn't frozen by the time the critters(horses, chickens, dogs, rabbits, etc) drink it, it is pretty darn close to freezing, so I can't really see much difference in them pecking at snow or drinking water that is freezing cold. My critters do just fine with the icy cold water(after I've chipped through the thick ice layer).
Ricky bamboo, you are creative! A snow ball is better than no water at all!

 

[ricky bamboo]

they will actually eat snow on their own free will while out ranging on milder days (above -5 C) too. i told my girls about the core temperature thing and they were a little offended that you referred to them as beasts...

 

[purr]

by volume they would have to take in alot of snow to get enough moisture to quench their thirst so they would be better off with the cold water. but mine have a heated bowl.

 

[patandchickens]

If an animal is warm enough and has enough food and shelter to *stay* warm enough, it doesn't seem to hurt them to eat snow. I know my horses take in a fair bit of snow sometimes when grazing thru early snowfalls (or even this time of year, pawing thru the snow and shaving off what little is left under there!); and my chickens sure go after the snow that falls off my boots when I'm in their pens.

It's absolutely not something to rely on as a meaningful source of water though, and I doubt it'd be a good idea to deliberately give snow to any chickens that are already in somewhat rough straits due to cold.

FWIW, eating snow (or ice) WILL actually strip more body heat than drinking freezing-temperature water. Reason being, it takes extra body heat to MELT the snow/ice, on top of the body heat required to bring the resulting water up to body temperature.

Pat

 

[vermontgal]

Mine happen to have a frozen pumpkin in there (leftover from fall harvest). The pumpkin is mostly water. I try to keep them in fresh, unfrozen water all the time, but if they do run out for a couple hours, the pumpkin is there as a backup. They are gradually pecking away at it.

 

[SterlingAcres]

Quote:
Watch it. You will get a warning

 

[ricky bamboo]

Quote:
Watch it. You will get a warning

i'm not sure what you mean...a warning?

 

[BJ]

My neighbor doesn't have to put out nearly as much drinking water for her dogs when snow is on the ground. She said they eat so much snow when they are outside that they aren't drinking their water inside!