Just a little more knowledge from the north. steel to plastic to foam. If there is frost on steel, anything warm and damp will stick to it. Wè`ve all watched Christmas story when Relphie`s friend was double dog dared to put his tongue on the frosted pole and he was stuck to it. Also dumb and dumber about frost on the chair lift. You wont stick to plastic so for all pets outside water in the winter, plastic should be used. Also if anyone has used an outhouse in the winter, ( old army days coming back) Those hard plastic seats are very cold to sit on and makes the task at hand hard to handle. Put a foam seat on because foam instently turns to the same temp what touches it. so get some spray foam and line the outside of the dish and make sure that the sides are covered with straw so the birds wont pick at it and the water will stay unfrozen longer because it only looses it`s heat through the top and not all around the sides. Another thing to use is a small cooler, lunch box size and fill that with water . They are cheap and will keep the water from freezing longer. This should keep water available to the chickens longer and should only need to be replaced twice a day.
Alan
