Freezing Waterers Experiment

[SlaterFarm]

Since like me, you're retired and also you're present at the end of the day for coop lockup, have you considered just taking the waterers into the kitchen at night? Either let them thaw out/ warm up overnight, or take the opportunity to wash them or swap them out for clean jars.

I also read recommendations to not keep water in the coop due to needing to minimize humidity, especially in the cold for frostbite prevention. I have a Nestera coop, and about all that will fit inside are the actual chickens, lol, and have a wall-mounted waterer out in the run. But I'm taking it in at night as well.

Chickens are eating and drinking at night, so other than the nuisance of toting things back and forth, it's a pretty handy solution. And low-tech!

Considering that the chicks need food and water all the time, including at night when locked in the Coop for preservation of their lives, the water most likely only freezes in the last couple of hours, so we leave the water in there at night. The waterer in the Run is brought in at night so that when the coop is opened up at dawn the girls will have fresh water right away. Here's a pic taken right after bed-time.

 

[debid]

You're keeping a light on around the clock? Chickens need to sleep, same as all creatures. They don't normally eat and drink in the dark, even young chicks do not require this. They'll load their crop as the sun is setting and not eat/drink again until morning.

 

[SlaterFarm]

You're keeping a light on around the clock? Chickens need to sleep, same as all creatures. They don't normally eat and drink in the dark, even young chicks do not require this. They'll load their crop as the sun is setting and not eat/drink again until morning.

I couldn't have taken a pic with the light off ...

 

[debid]

That doesn't answer the question. You shined a light to get a photo or you are keeping a light on all night? And if so, what is the motivation for doing that?

 

[SlaterFarm]

That doesn't answer the question. You shined a light to get a photo or you are keeping a light on all night? And if so, what is the motivation for doing that?

Uggh. The lights are not on all night.

 

[tlcmurphy]

I would take the waterers in at night, I put mine in the garage, then take them back out in the morning. Your girls look old enough to not require food and water at night.

The explanation I found for the bottle of salt water inside the waterer is that the salt water itself doesn’t freeze. Unfortunately it’s an Old Wives Tale that it will keep the rest of the water from freezing

 

[debid]

Uggh. The lights are not on all night.

I've heard stranger things, I thought maybe you were supplementing light and went overboard.

You said: "Considering that the chicks need food and water all the time, including at night"
But they absolutely do not. They can't see well at all in the dark, they will sit in one place until it is light.

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

I would take the waterers in at night, I put mine in the garage, then take them back out in the morning. Your girls look old enough to not require food and water at night.

The explanation I found for the bottle of salt water inside the waterer is that the salt water itself doesn’t freeze. Unfortunately it’s an Old Wives Tale that it will keep the rest of the water from freezing

Supposedly it's used for large troughs (300+ gallons?), and the idea is that a gallon jug of salt water will slowly float around in the trough and disrupt ice forming too quickly.

Around here, everybody either uses heaters or cracks the ice.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Considering that the chicks need food and water all the time, including at night when locked in the Coop for preservation of their lives, the water most likely only freezes in the last couple of hours, so we leave the water in there at night. The waterer in the Run is brought in at night so that when the coop is opened up at dawn the girls will have fresh water right away. Here's a pic taken right after bed-time. View attachment 4289182

My mini-flock of five (3 just became hens - had their first hatchday, 2 are younger but full-size) don't have access to food and water at night, and when I open up in the morning, they do not go frantically searching for food and water. Instead, they go through the usual rambling around the yard. They'll take a few bites of their morning feed and a few swallows of water, but they don't do serious eating for another hour or two. And that's after upwards of ten hours in the coop.

This is the way that birds work. They generally have terrible night vision, so there is no incentive in the wild to eat (note the eyes of owls, the classic night bird exception.) Instead, they load up their crops through the day, sometimes to comical levels, and digest their food in their sleep, as the bedding under the roosts will testify.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I would take the waterers in at night, I put mine in the garage, then take them back out in the morning. Your girls look old enough to not require food and water at night.

The explanation I found for the bottle of salt water inside the waterer is that the salt water itself doesn’t freeze. Unfortunately it’s an Old Wives Tale that it will keep the rest of the water from freezing

Well, I'm guessing that the theory is that the salt water is slightly less cold than the surrounding fresh water, and so heat exchange goes on for a while, keeping the fresh water thawed. But I don't think that's actually happening, and if it is, I doubt that it delays freezing for very long at all.