Freezing Chicken Water

[lazy gardener]

How much snow do you get? I keep suggesting the portable "garage" to hubby to store our extra "stuff" so the garage won't be as crowded, and he tells me that they simply won't hold up in snow country... though I do see some here and there. I think the most stable ones are the quonset style. I have a cattle panel coop (my old one) and that can be totally buried by snow, and will not collapse b/c of the framing and ridge pole I built for it. Same with my CP green house. Maybe you might consider building with cattle panels. What size is your current run?

 

[azygous]

Unless you live in the Antarctica desert, -20 indicates you get substantial snow. I live in semi-arid southern Colorado, and everyone around here who has put up those portable car ports has had them collapse. They are a product like those cute pre-fab coops at the chain feed stores - attractive but not functional over the long haul.

I urge you not to try to throw something up quick and easy. Chickens can get by with not much more than shelter from direct exposure to weather elements, meaning you need only consider a sturdy roof with a decent pitch to shed snow and rain and sturdy sides that rigid plastic panels such as Coroplast can be screwed to in the winter in a very quick fashion, and they come down easily in spring. They may be costly up front but can be reused over and over for years. They are double-walled and practically indestructible, but let light. Much better than plastic sheeting or tarps.

If you take the winter to plan it out, you can put the word out for used materials such as old doors and paneling and 2x 4s.

I began with a simple run and decided I wanted to cover it to keep the rain and snow out, so I laid hog panels over the top and put plastic sheeting over them. The first big wind did what you would expect - tore it all loose, and it was a nightmare.

I then got some fiberglass corrugated roofing panels and they were much better. I finally rebuilt my run with sturdy 2 x 4 framing and a few 2 x 12 beams and now the chickens are set with a winter palace that keeps out all wind and snow and with the old full length glass doors someone gave me, the sun comes in and warms the sand up so it's a good 20 degrees warmer in the run on freezing days, and the chickens are sunbathing like they were on a beach in the Bahamas.

 

[LisabethBrooke]

@lazy gardener - I can't remember the snow amount. It was deep in the yard and deeper out in the fields where it was more open. There were snow drifts on the roads that the maintainer had to work from one side and my dad had to open the other side with the tractor.

@azygous - I want a chicken oasis. When it snows here they peek out of the coop at me like heck no lady I'm not touching that white stuff! And I'm sure they're convinced I've put it there to torment them.

 

[azygous]

Oh, you are so right about chickens and snow. For the most part, they hate the stuff. I Had a young cockerel who, when he encountered snow for the very first time, tried to fly over it instead of walking on it and he ended up getting himself stuck head first in a snow drift. Picture a Black Cochin buried in the snow with just his big feathered feet sticking out. I nearly laughed myself into a coma.

 

[BBQJOE]

I don't recall if I mentioned it, but you can put about a quarter of a bottle of everclear into their water to keep it from freezing.
It'll cost a little more each month, but your chickens will think you're a God.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Ditto.

I wonder how long a tire would keep water from freezing in my bird's winter sunroom. Often, the day time temp will get up to 20* in the sun room, even if just for a few hours. I think it might act as a bit of a heat sink, especially if filled with sand or rocks, or other dense material. Down side is that it would need to be elevated to keep them from filling the water with kicked up debris from their constant composting efforts in the sun room. Perhaps 2 tires stacked. Hmmm......

Maybe fill the tire with manure.....

Hmm

Gary

 

[TwoAcresonaDream]

I don't recall if I mentioned it, but you can put about a quarter of a bottle of everclear into their water to keep it from freezing.
It'll cost a little more each month, but your chickens will think you're a God.

I read that putting ACV in the water can help. We are in a cold snap right now, and I'm going to try that.

 

[CapricornFarm]

I made this...

I put the build on helpful hints for building chicken coops.

 

[jthornton]

10°F here in SEMO last night. Both vertical and horizontal nipples froze. Lid was frozen to the bucket but the water was above freezing @ 50°F. I think a cobbled up wind break is in order today. For now a heated dog bowl will be the water source.

JT

 

[azygous]

Only eight more weeks of this.

I've lucked out recently with temperature inversions that have given me overnight temps 30 degrees warmer than those just below me on the mountain.

It was 6F 500 feet lower, and I forgot to turn on the heating pad over my vertical nipples, and I lucked out with 35F overnight. Otherwise, I'd be out there with a kettle of boiling water.