Good ways to keep water from freezing without electricity

[wamtazlady]

Looking for suggestions- I am still pretty new with animals and winter. I want something cost effective to keep my energy bill down. We are away from the house for at least 8 hours a day and can’t be changing water out as it freezes. I would rather not use the heated dog bowl as I’ve read the girls could get wet and become frost bit. We can’t use the bucket with nipples because the girls, bless their souls, cannot figure it out! We currently have a plastic one that you flip upside down to take the base off and then fill the reservoir with water, put the base back on, then flip right side up (soooo annoying! But whatever..). I like the idea of the submersible de icers however it seems like they can only be used with the 5 gallon bucket/nipple method. Can anyone confirm that for me? I’ve seen heated waterers that look like mine, but I feel like they probably use more electricity than the submersible ones. Thoughts? Ideas? I saw an ingenious creation using a light bulb and ceramic dish, however I’m not sure I have the time right now to try and make one..

If you remove all the other available water your girls will use the nipples. Over the years I've had 4 or 5 batches of chickens that I've introduced to horizontal nipples. I introduce them by removing any other water, setting up the new system with the horizontal nipples, and walking away. I have never had a chicken die from not drinking from the nipples. One batch of chickens were put into the coop after dark. By 7 am in the morning they were all getting drinks. This is from chickens who had previously been drinking from a water bowl. Even the neighbors' chickens from both sides of me would use the nipples rather than go home to get a drink.

This year I was a bit worried that my new chickens would have problems using the nipples. Being lazy I didn't clean out my nipple waterer and was just filling a big bowl for their water. The nipple waterer was left in the run. I figured the chickens had already checked out those nipples and knew they got nothing from them. I asked the guy who waters my birds to take out the waterer so I could get it cleaned for winter. He misunderstood me and removed the bowl and filled the nipple waterer. I didn't find out about it for a couple days. They were all drinking from the nipples without a problem.

 

[ampljf2000]

I know it’s a little early for winter but we all want summer forever, but I was wondering how to keep the water from freezing. I’m a first time chicken keeper so any thing more about winter you can tell me thanks!

I've put ping pong balls into the waterer to keep the water moving. It keeps the water from freezing solid for a day or 2. Good temporary solution

 

[RustyBucketFarmGirl]

My method.

This method consists of fresh manure as the heat source and does not require any electricity.

That is super intriguing! I think i will try that! I feel like my waterer is always getting super dirty and filled with poop and mud. It’s elevated and is one of those gravity waterers that only releases more water once they have drank some.

How do you keep the water clean? Is there ever a way to dump what’s left over and start fresh or would you be digging it up every time to do that?

 

[RustyBucketFarmGirl]

Has anyone tried a solar water dish? I have not, and am wondering if they are a good option

I have a handful of solar lights that i use and i love. The battery gets charged up in the day and then in the morning i click it on while i do my chores and turn it back off before heading back out. It’s great! Wish there were more simple and solar powered options for scoops! If you find one let me know!

 

[RustyBucketFarmGirl]

I know it’s a little early for winter but we all want summer forever, but I was wondering how to keep the water from freezing. I’m a first time chicken keeper so any thing more about winter you can tell me thanks!

This is

 

[RustyBucketFarmGirl]

I know it’s a little early for winter but we all want summer forever, but I was wondering how to keep the water from freezing. I’m a first time chicken keeper so any thing more about winter you can tell me thanks!

This is my first flock and my first winter. I also do not have electric in my coop.

I read somewhere about floating a plastic water bottle with salt in it in the waterer. Something about keeping the water moving and the salt doing what salt does.

Anyone tried this before?

 

[R2elk]

That is super intriguing! I think i will try that! I feel like my waterer is always getting super dirty and filled with poop and mud. It’s elevated and is one of those gravity waterers that only releases more water once they have drank some.

How do you keep the water clean? Is there ever a way to dump what’s left over and start fresh or would you be digging it up every time to do that?

The top of the bucket sits 3" to 4" above the ground level. I do not add any bedding to ground so there is nothing to kick in the bucket. About the only thing that gets dropped into it are feathers which are easily skimmed off.

I prefer to use a tapered bucket which is how the flat back buckets are constructed. The tapered bucket makes it relatively easy to pull the bucket straight up out of the hole in order to empty it and rinse it out. Put the empty bucket back in the hole before refilling it with water. When you make the initial installation, it is important to have the bucket filled and in place before filling the surrounding area with manure. Tamp the manure in well so that when you pull the bucket out the sides of the hole will stay in place.

 

[ClaraArvizu]

I read somewhere that putting a hand warmer in a plastic bag or container and putting it in the water will keep it from freezing for quite some time. So far we have not had to try it.

 

[BioTheo]

Fill a water bottle with salt-saturated water with a top sealed tightly and drop that in your waterer. This will keep your water defrosted up to about -6 degrees F. The bigger the waterer, the bigger your salt water bottle should be.

 

[saysfaa]

Fill a water bottle with salt-saturated water...

Over about three years, I couldn't find anyone who had compared the rate of freezing with the salt water bottle in it vs without. So I compared them last winter...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/salt-water-in-a-bottle-in-the-water-bucket-a-trial.1609269/

Results - it doesn't work.