Frozen Water System Ideas.

[livestrong]

My first winter with birds is quickly approaching and I'm going to be keeping mine in a detached garage. We are using a gravity feed watering system. Has anyone had any luck with adding propylene glycol to your bird's water? I'm also open to any other ideas.

The only direct research I can find is from this article which i can't find an actual copy of - Farshid, A.A., Rajan, A., Nair, M.K., Ultrastructural pathology of the lymphoid organs in Japanese quail embryos in experimental ochratoxicosis, Indian Veterinary Journal

 

[DobieLover]

My first winter with birds is quickly approaching and I'm going to be keeping mine in a detached garage. We are using a gravity feed watering system. Has anyone had any luck with adding propylene glycol to your bird's water? I'm also open to any other ideas.

The only direct research I can find is from this article which i can't find an actual copy of - Farshid, A.A., Rajan, A., Nair, M.K., Ultrastructural pathology of the lymphoid organs in Japanese quail embryos in experimental ochratoxicosis, Indian Veterinary Journal

If they are going to be in your garage, why not use a heater? I would never or a glycol in the water.

 

[livestrong]

If they are going to be in your garage, why not use a heater? I would never or a glycol in the water.

Well it's not insulated and I do want them getting a heater in case it prevents them from growing enough of a winter coat. how would you heat a gravity bucket? wouldn't the cups freeze up?

 

[livestrong]

I'm thinking these might be the best winter solution -

Then just jamming a small fish heater on the lowest setting into the container.

 

[DobieLover]

Well it's not insulated and I do want them getting a heater in case it prevents them from growing enough of a winter coat. how would you heat a gravity bucket? wouldn't the cups freeze up?

Is this something like what you are using?

When I said use a heater, I should have clarified that I meant a heater for the water.
I will be putting a thermostatically controlled bird bath heater in mine.

 

[livestrong]

Is this something like what you are using?
View attachment 1905813
When I said use a heater, I should have clarified that I meant a heater for the water.
I will be putting a thermostatically controlled bird bath heater in mine.

My current setup has those little cups with the yellow thing in them. Your system seems close enough to the bucket that the warmer water would keep everything flowing.

 

[DobieLover]

My current setup has those little cups with the yellow thing in them. Your system seems close enough to the bucket that the warmer water would keep everything flowing.

Change the cups to horizontal nipples and drop a thermostatically controlled bird bath heater in it or use a thermocube with a small aquarium heater.

 

[DK newbie]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere about a guy who used glycerol in the water of birds (probably parrots) to prevent it from freezing. No clue about the amounts, it was just a short sentence like "I remember the good old times when we used to put glycerol in the drinking water to prevent it from freezing..." - nothing scientific about it, but apparently it worked. Don't know about propylene glycol.
I wouldn't be too worried about using either. But if you can't find any recommended concentrations, I'd definitely start with small amounts and work my way up, till you find out how much it takes to keep the water frost free.

 

[Criticalicious]

Personally I use the heated poultry waterer from Premier 1. Little pricey but it works and it lasts a long time.

 

[Mouthpear]

My first winter with birds is quickly approaching and I'm going to be keeping mine in a detached garage. We are using a gravity feed watering system. Has anyone had any luck with adding propylene glycol to your bird's water? I'm also open to any other ideas.

The only direct research I can find is from this article which i can't find an actual copy of - Farshid, A.A., Rajan, A., Nair, M.K., Ultrastructural pathology of the lymphoid organs in Japanese quail embryos in experimental ochratoxicosis, Indian Veterinary Journal

I have not tried Propylene Glycol yet since it does not get cold often here in South Texas. I was just reading this about it, maybe it will help a bit.

However, it has gotten so cold that is does freeze now and again. So, I made a water system that will circulate the water according to temperature. They say that moving water does not freeze. The two winters that I had it up and running it worked great. Here is my video of the walk through of the partially done system below. Using the PVC riser irrigation nipples and tee fittings makes it easy to wrap Water Pipe Anti-Freeze Frost Protection Heating Cable something like this. I have not needed to use so I am just showing an option and not actually recommending that particular product.. Adding a 3'4 inch PVC Plug with a flat face, makes it easy to drill and tread holes with a tap and bit set, Makes a bit easier with this step drill bit for the chicken nipples. I like these better tho. The "on the side mounting" helps the crud from not settling inside the nipple. Since it is just a little bit higher than where the water and crud will settle. Installing the nipples on the plugs will help in maintaining the system. Most people will drill holes directly in the pipe. If it leaks due to a bad fit you will have to fix that. Then you might have to glue it, which means you won't be able to replace it easily. Putting it on a plug, the plug and nipple can be glued and replaced if need be. A little more cost and effort but it can be modified if need be. Also, it can be scaled down in the winter time, by removing sections of pipe, to keep the overall area that needs to be wrapped to a minimum.

One last thing. Putting together a longer section of pipe with nipples, makes it easy to tie it to a fence, wall, cage, at any height. So as the chicks grow you can raise it. As so many of us Chicken Tenders have many different size chickens this also lets you put it an angle for their convenience.

Sorry for if this is too much info.