Frozen waters

[BigBlueHen53]

Urg. Bedtime. Too many typos.

 

[Banana01]

If electricity is an option (easiest to just run a cord to your house) a wall mounted heater you can control with your phone using wifi would be ideal. You could turn it on for an hour or two in the morning, then turn it off fron your phone and control it as needed depending on the temperature throughout the day. Infrared or led heaters and overhead or wall mounted heaters could be set up to be really safe.

 

[MotherofOrpies]

I blow the candles out at night, and in the morning I light them up and put a fresh pot of water on it
If you leave the water out all night, temperatures are much lower, you would need a lot more heat and also to “heat” up the water in the morning, and you may attract rats, which need water to survive

 

[21hens-incharge]

I imagine it must be really hard to keep thawed water always available in cold weather without electricity. I don't have any suggestions for that, but I'm appreciating the suggestions people are offering, few though they be! Providing water twice a day has been the most amazing one to me so far (@21hens-incharge) but unfortunately, not very useful for working folks who don't see their chickens in daylight during the winter.

My best suggestion is very long, heavy-duty extension cords and heated dog dishes. Works for us.

I leave for work 2 hours before dawn. I am home before dark but not by much.

I take hot out in the morning (straight hot) by the time they are up it's cooled but not frozen.
When I get home 9.5 hours later it is iced over but not frozen into a solid block yet. It's easy to break the ice, dump some water outside the run in a spot off the walk path and top up with warm water not hot this time.

No one dives for it like they are super thirsty so I am pretty confident it stayed thawed a decent amount of time during the day.

 

[Krugerrand]

I remember reading a post on BYC where someone dug a hole in the ground, put manure in the bottom and packed around a bucket that was dropped in the hole. Packed it in good....added some water to essentially start a composting mechanism in the manure. That process, combined with it being under ground, works to keep the water in the bucket from freezing.

Here's the link:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/alternate-method-to-prevent-water-freezing.73180/

I use one of these (electric):

Farm Innovators HB-60P Heated 2 Gallon Poultry Drinker​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005BV1WLE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We've dipped down to single digits (F) and sustained temps in the teens and it's worked fine so far. This is my first winter with chickens. So, I'm checking on it pretty regularly.

 

[Phaedra Geiermann]

We are now getting some freezing nights. I only have eight chickens. I take the waterer in each night and bring warm water out every morning. I even microwave a few cups and add it in. I ferment food so ya I admit it I slightly warm it up for them. I know crazy right?. They sit through the whole night in the coop/shed I feel it is only fair I provide some not frozen water and some above room temp food in the am. LOL I hope they appreciate it. They seem to. The last couple of days were kinda rough. My big fat girl orpington has been limping but getting better cuz I kept her fat butt in a couple days to keep her form perching. Oh and my poor Lacy Jade speckeled sussex got attacked by a hawk near the deck. I went in to get a drink and the screaming began. I ran out and omg my poor baby was nailed to the ground by this little hawk. I screamed and yelled noooo and threw my cup at it and hit it and it let go of her she ran off and well the hubs had plans for that hawk . Sorry. My Lacy is a okay. She was so scared she would not even come out of the coop for hours. The others finally convinced her and she is good but my easter eggers and my australorp are on high alert and terryified. I finally got them to come back out. I will not let them out without me out there from now on. That was terrifying. They all spent some time in the sunshine today with me and went to bed happy chickens. I feel this is a happy ending to a crazy couple of days. Thanks for listening. I feel like this is the only place that would understand this madness and love for chickens. They are so sweet and some not but I love them all.

You're not alone, I prepare food for my flocks everyday and also warm water in the morning in the winter days.

 

[lovesfarms]

My chickens water was freezing during the day this week. I took a styrofoam box (DH medicine comes in it on ice through the mail) and slid it inside a cardboard box flaps open from the side and they are taped shut) I cut a hole in the top of the cardboard box just large enough to set in a large plastic bowl. The styrofoam box is much wider than the bowl so in the morning I stick in 2 small plastic water bottles filled with hot water. Then I set the bowl in the hole, the hot water bottles surround the water bowl but all you can see is the water dish that I now fill with warm water. I dug a hole in the bedding and stick the box in there with some bedding backed up around it, mainly to make sure the smallest chickens can reach the water but also thinking it may help seal in the heat. The bottles are still slightly warm in the evening. Make sure all styrofoam is hidden from chicken eyes

 

[m16ty]

I had one of those electric heaters you put into a bucket placed in one of those big rubber bowls. They usually drink about 1/2 of it a day, but I came home one day and noticed it still full to the brim. When I went over to check it, my hand touched the water and I got the shock of my life. I put out some more water and they were very dehydrated, apparently they had got shocked too and wasn't able to drink. After that incident, I've been reluctant to go back to mixing electricity with water.

I've now been putting water into black rubber tubs and just putting fresh out every morning. It's dark by the time I get home, but I think they tend to keep the water at least somewhat unfrozen throughout the day. If it's really cold, I will find a thin layer of ice on the bowls, but it won't be as thick as other containers around that the chickens don't drink out of.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

My chickens water was freezing during the day this week. I took a styrofoam box (DH medicine comes in it on ice through the mail) and slid it inside a cardboard box flaps open from the side and they are taped shut) I cut a hole in the top of the cardboard box just large enough to set in a large plastic bowl. The styrofoam box is much wider than the bowl so in the morning I stick in 2 small plastic water bottles filled with hot water. Then I set the bowl in the hole, the hot water bottles surround the water bowl but all you can see is the water dish that I now fill with warm water. I dug a hole in the bedding and stick the box in there with some bedding backed up around it, mainly to make sure the smallest chickens can reach the water but also thinking it may help seal in the heat. The bottles are still slightly warm in the evening. Make sure all styrofoam is hidden from chicken eyes

Can we get a pic of this setup?

 

[Outer limit]

I dont like to run any electricity out there unless I'm home. Idk how itll react during these temperatures. Ik in the morning they have water but after that temperature gets colder.

Battery powered pump to recirculate water inside bucket to keep it from freezing