Freezing Water

[chrisarvor]

Hi
I live in Bulgaria and the temp is very low now - 12 etc
I have made some boxes with open fronts out of 2 inch polystyrene insulation which i put thew water dispensers in
It holds back the ice during the day but at night not
The problem i have is that the birds are eating the polystyrene?????????? the pheasants love it , slowly destroying the boxes
Do you think this will harm them??? its been 4 days and they all are still happy even in this cold weather

Any thoughts

 

[Judy]

This is a notation at the end of the BYC treats chart:

A quote from Nifty-Chicken, the Administrator of BYC:
"I gave up on my birds knowing what was best for them when I caught them all eating a block of Styrofoam pellets."

I too have seen my birds eat styrofoam, as have others on here. Like most indedile things they eat, it will likely pass through them without harming them.

People who insulate their coop must over the insulation with plywood or the like, because chickens will eat that, too.

You'll just have to find a way to cover the foam. One thing I've read about that works is using inexpensive coolers or ice chests to hold the water -- obviously you have to use ones that are plastic on the outside and not all styrofoam. I hope these small coolers are as easy to find there as they are here.

Good luck.

 

[oldchickenlady]

I would think it would not be good for them! It might not hurt in small quantities, but I wouldn't want them to eat any! What kind of waterers do you have? I made 2 of the Christmas cookie tin heaters to set my metal and plastic waterers on and they are working great! No frozen water yet and the temps have made it down to 9 degrees here in middle TN. They are very easy to make and cheap, too! I plugged them into an electrical plug that only allows the power to come on when the temperature is below 40 degrees, so the light bulb that supplies the heat isn't on all the time. If you type christmas tin heater into the search box it will pull up past discussions about it and directions how to make them. If that isn't going to work for you, you might try covering all the styrofoam with duct tape and lots of it!

 

[phoneman40]

I made a home made water warmer from a 10" clay pot and a 12" bottom that fits nicely on the top. Inside I put a cheap 8" work light-cut a hole in the side for the cord and protected it with wire wrapping and a 100watt buld in the fixture. Then i strapped it to a piece of treated3/4" plywood about 12" x 12" (metal strap from plumbing dept. Then I put springs to make for east access on two sides. I am uploading pics and the cool thing is it keeps everything thawed at 15 degrees Fahrenheit and if anything ever shorts or catches fire it'll be short lived inside the clay pots. Everything cost about 25 bucks. Almost forgot-I put four little pieces of 3/4" as feet to keep the warmer from sitting directly on the ground...............

It's not pretty but it serves the purpose especially when you cant find one around in ANY stores......

 

[LynneP]

I realize you may not be able to get an electric dog bowl, but if you find them in the future, I'm sure you will be very satisfied.
Floating an object in the water, like a ping-pong ball, will slow down freezing, the birds peck them out of the way to drink.
A stove-warmed brick in a cookie tin will warm water for many hours. put waterer on top.

Can you get 2 wooden crates, make openings and insulate in-between them?

 

[sunflowerenvy]

Quote:
first all cover up the 2 inch polystyrene insulation with a bigger pvc pipes
make a cookie tin heater
cookie tin heater by hinkjc
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=107951
or
Terracotta heater by BrewedInNh
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=5163484#p5163484

Thermo Cube

Thermostatically Controlled Outlet
http://www.tractorsupply.com/livest...t/stock-tanks-accessories/stock-tank-heaters/
LynneP

or make one like phoneman40 did
and good luck

 

[sunflowerenvy]

Quote:
hey how did you make a hole in that clay pot without breaking it?
also could you please make a separate thread. how to make this
thank you.
laura

 

[enggass]

I'm using an electric dog bowl and have had temps down to around 3ºF and in the AM the water is still not frozen. I've heard it can cause problems in real cold with the birds wattles getting wet when they drink from these bowls. No problems for me yet...

 

[phoneman40]

Quote:
hey how did you make a hole in that clay pot without breaking it?
also could you please make a separate thread. how to make this
thank you.
laura

I cut the hole with a dremel cut off wheel-went through about 4 of them but it worked...i'll start a new thread later today...thanks for the comment

 

[LynneP]

enggass- try putting your electric dog bowl in a rubber stock bowl (see pic above).
It's cleaner, less slippery and positions the birds so that wattles don not get wet.