Get Ready for Winter

[CapricornFarm]

Trying to get things done before the rain this afternoon. Mulching, planting and perhaps seeding. The cold will be coming soon!

 

[CapricornFarm]

We have a possibility of snow on Friday!
Today i wrapped the first present for this year. Shipping it off to a friend tomorrow.

 

[CapricornFarm]

My winter jacket came. I ordered it the largest size they make, because people said it ran small. It was still too small to even zip! Made me feel like an elephant. Back it goes!

 

[CapricornFarm]

I got a jacket at Burlington Coat factory today. Wish i had more time to shop there, i was trying to get home before more snow fell. And i got another snow shovel.
Wishing for a bit warmer weather to finish building the rabbit hutch.

 

[CapricornFarm]

My solar heater is not so great with no sunshine, and the compost is not producing heat yet. So hubby found this idea on the net, no idea where. I drew up a quick sketch.

I will post pictures after i get to a hardware store when the roads clear up.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Smuvers Farm told me this has been tried, didn't work well so i am going to try the cookie tin method and an insulated box with metal top.

 

[Leahs Mom]

What is your coop like..how much room do you have inside? If you have enough space (and electricity), here are a couple of things I've done and like. (And I've tried a lot of things!)

Idea 1:
Use a heated dog water bowl but not as an open waterer. I use small waterers, so I use a small heated bowl and if I need more watering stations I set up as many as needed.

Fill the dog bowl with GRIT, put water in the grit (this will transmit the heat), then set a small waterer on top of the grit. Works great!!

I like this better than using a heated waterer as you can just lift the waterer off the top and replace it with another when you change them out. Way easier than unplugging one, bringing it in to clean, then going back out and re-plugging, etc. And I like easy!!!!!

In single digits the water will start to frost over from the top down.

I DON'T just use the dog bowl itself as wattles will drag in the water and get frostbite. I only offer restricted opening waterers.

That's a 5lb honey jar - which is 1/2 gallon of water. And those little chick water screw-on pieces are really cheap so you can just have a few of them around and switch out jars fast and easy and expensively.

(funnel was to keep the younger birds from standing on top of the jar.)

When it gets in the single digits it usually stays open enough to keep most of the water in the top open as you see above.

I've used this setup several years with success.

If your temps are mostly in the 20's and above this would work very well for you.


Second...
Last season when it was in the single digits I added a heat lamp fixture with a 75 watt red bulb in it to keep the top thawed as you can see in the photo below. I'm able to do that and keep the heat lamp OUT OF THE PEN as I have the pen in a barn which is larger.

This year I'm trying it with the lamp only and not the dog bowl. I have that lamp on a lamp dimmer cord so I can turn it down way low when temps are above single digits on a sliding scale or all the way up as needed. It's working great so far.

(You'll have to imagine this without the dog bowl as I don't have a photo from this year. The waterer sits right on the blocks, no dog bowl.)

 

[CapricornFarm]

What is your coop like..how much room do you have inside? If you have enough space (and electricity), here are a couple of things I've done and like. (And I've tried a lot of things!)

Idea 1:
Use a heated dog water bowl but not as an open waterer. I use small waterers, so I use a small heated bowl and if I need more watering stations I set up as many as needed.

Fill the dog bowl with GRIT, put water in the grit (this will transmit the heat), then set a small waterer on top of the grit. Works great!!

I like this better than using a heated waterer as you can just lift the waterer off the top and replace it with another when you change them out. Way easier than unplugging one, bringing it in to clean, then going back out and re-plugging, etc. And I like easy!!!!!

In single digits the water will start to frost over from the top down.

I DON'T just use the dog bowl itself as wattles will drag in the water and get frostbite. I only offer restricted opening waterers.

That's a 5lb honey jar - which is 1/2 gallon of water. And those little chick water screw-on pieces are really cheap so you can just have a few of them around and switch out jars fast and easy and expensively.

(funnel was to keep the younger birds from standing on top of the jar.)

View attachment 1205443

When it gets in the single digits it usually stays open enough to keep most of the water in the top open as you see above.

I've used this setup several years with success.

If your temps are mostly in the 20's and above this would work very well for you.


Second...
Last season when it was in the single digits I added a heat lamp fixture with a 75 watt red bulb in it to keep the top thawed as you can see in the photo below. I'm able to do that and keep the heat lamp OUT OF THE PEN as I have the pen in a barn which is larger.

This year I'm trying it with the lamp only and not the dog bowl. I have that lamp on a lamp dimmer cord so I can turn it down way low when temps are above single digits on a sliding scale or all the way up as needed. It's working great so far.

(You'll have to imagine this without the dog bowl as I don't have a photo from this year. The waterer sits right on the blocks, no dog bowl.)

View attachment 1205447

Thanks for sharing! Not sure how the first one prevents freezing, and wouldn't the glass jar break if it freezes?
My 8x10 coop is divided in half so each side has a 4x10 area. Not bad.

 

[Leahs Mom]

It seriously keeps it from freezing with the dog bowl.

Key is to put grit in the bowl, then water in the bowl.

The grit gives a base for the waterer to sit on, and the water transfers the heat from the water to the waterer base and up into the water in the jar.

But, as I said above, as the temps get into the single digits, the top of the jar will start to freeze from top down. Probably about at 15 F. is when it starts getting frosted above, but I've left it out in the teens.

I've never had one freeze solid - the bottom 1/3 always stays open even in the single digits and some below.

REMEMBER - this is indoors - not out in the run. I assume that the wind chill would have a huge impact.

I know another person that used the larger dog bowl, filled with grit and water, with a larger waterer as well. I'm not sure how low of temps it worked as there is a lot more water in those, but the base is also larger. I never heard him say that he had any problem all winter, but he is a little farther south than I am. He's in the Indianapolis area and I'm up north in IN close to South Bend area about 1/2 mil from IN/MI border.

 

[CapricornFarm]

It seriously keeps it from freezing with the dog bowl.

Key is to put grit in the bowl, then water in the bowl.

The grit gives a base for the waterer to sit on, and the water transfers the heat from the water to the waterer base and up into the water in the jar.

But, as I said above, as the temps get into the single digits, the top of the jar will start to freeze from top down. Probably about at 15 F. is when it starts getting frosted above, but I've left it out in the teens.

I've never had one freeze solid - the bottom 1/3 always stays open even in the single digits and some below.

REMEMBER - this is indoors - not out in the run. I assume that the wind chill would have a huge impact.

I know another person that used the larger dog bowl, filled with grit and water, with a larger waterer as well. I'm not sure how low of temps it worked as there is a lot more water in those, but the base is also larger. I never heard him say that he had any problem all winter, but he is a little farther south than I am. He's in the Indianapolis area and I'm up north in IN close to South Bend area about 1/2 mil from IN/MI border.

Ok, that explains it. Thanks!