Frozen Water!

[ColbyNTX]

It has been below freezing (teens-20's for highs) for 3 days now and it really sucks taking buckets of water from the kitchen to the barn and filling whatever I can find to hold a little water for each pen. I don't know how you folks up north deal with this all the time! We usually have about 10-15 nights per year that even dip below freezing so watering is not usually a problem even with my auto water system. My question is, how many times a day do they need water? I have to work during the day and have been watering in the morning but it is dark usually when I get home so it wouldn't do any good to water then because they wouldn't drink in the dark anyway. The water I put out is frozen within an hour.

 

[KOTurkeyRanch]

Get a heated bucket

 

[jasonm11]

I can tell you what has been working for me. I live in N TX so I understand the weather you are talking about. I used a 5 gallon home depot bucket with a lid. I drilled a 1" hole on about 1" below the lid. I fil it with warm water in the morning and flip it into an 12qt galvanized drain pan I picked up at TSC. It stays fluid until early evening. Even with the weather we are having. Total cost about $10 dollars.

 

[ColbyNTX]

Quote:
Maybe in PA everybody sells those

but if I went to TSC and bought th 1 or 2 they may have, it wouldn't do me much good because I have no electricity in the barn the turkeys are kept. I also have 10 pens that I am watering. What I really need to know is, if they just get water in the morning, will they be OK for a few days?

 

[KOTurkeyRanch]

id say give them some water midday instead of morning and when you refill always get the water as hot as possible as long as its a safe temperature for them to drink

 

[Frosty]

Yes they will be fine for a few days.

Do you have any snow there or just cold? If there is snow, you can also shovel some in and they'll eat that, too.

I don't give my critters warm water because I have heard too many plumbers say that the water in your hot water tank isn't safe to drink.

Another option would be to have the water pan in a larger pan with straw or something packed between the two pans to help insulate. But by the time you rigged something like that up, it would probably be warm enough that you won't need it.

 

[ColbyNTX]

Quote:
Can't give water mid day because I work.

Frosty,

Supposed to get 2-4" of snow tonight. You are right, by the time I get it all sorted out, it will be thawed out around here.

 

[neenerbutt92]

I have a heat lamp over mine, works great!

 

[Unclebean]

I was always told warm/hot water will freeze faster than cold water.

 

[TarHeelBlue]

This May Not Help At All, But We Are In The Same Boat As You. I Went To Tsc, Purchased A Metal 5 Gallon Waterer And The Metal Heater That Goes Beneath It (same Kind As You Can Buy To Put Under Your Dog's Bowl To Keep It From Freezing.) I Automatically Comes On When The Temp Goes Below 32 And Back Off Again When The Temp Comes Up. This Is The Only Thing That Has Saved My Chickens (especially With This Blizzard That Just Blew Through Oklahoma) To Solve The Electricity Problem, We Ran Two Heavy Duty Extension Cords To The Coop - Taped The Connection With That Black Electricians Tape Meant To Block Out Water On Electrical Connections. Since Then, I Have Actually Seen A Special Casing You Can Buy To Do This. So Far Ours Has Worked Great, I Just Have To Make Sure I Carry Water Out To Them And It Doesn't Go Dry. Hope This Helps.