Help!! Going away overnight, and forgot the chicken water will freeze!

[SoManyHats]

So tomorrow I'm leaving at 9am, and I won't be back until around 3pm on Sunday. It just now occurred to me that the chicken water will freeze overnight, and it won't get above freezing until mid day Sunday. I don't have electric to the coop or neighbors that can change the water!! What do I do?

 

[Belinda7]

I put a small "deer watering pond" in the coop (plugged into electircity,) filled it with pine chips so there was a level surface, and put water dispenser on top of the pine chips....it works like a charm - chickens have water...not ice!

 

[coop-er]

????????

 

[Belinda7]

It's like a warming plate - do you have access to any pet supply centers for a warming plate that comes with a water dispenser? If not, try a "hunting" type store for a deer waterer. It's shaped like a small pond. (Maybe ~1 x 2 ft) - but it won't be level, so that's why I added pine chips, so all the water wouldn't drain out of the water dispenser into the "pond"

 

[Belinda7]

Oh, sorry - I just realized you don't have electricity to the coop! Can you run an extension cord from your house to the coop??

 

[ivan3]

Are they going to be locked in coop? If they are going to have access to run (and run gets some sunlight - supposed to be only partly cloudy) you could put clear plastic/plexiglass over a big black rubber/hard plastic feed bowl (leave a few inches of bowl uncovered so they can drink). Sun `should' melt some of the water during warmest part of day. If in coop the best you could do is heat bricks in oven just before you leave, place those in a thick walled box (small plastic cooler lined with foil with some wooden shims on bottom (don't want melting plastic from bricks) place water pan on top of bricks and cover most of the top of water bowl with plastic/wood (again, leave a couple inches for chooks to dip beaks in).

Just anything you can come up with to retain heat (place it out there at last minute). Supposed to be warmer sunday, yes?

 

[SoManyHats]

Thanks for all the great ideas. I sent the hubby to Lowes to get pipe heating cable. He wrapped it around the waterers and ran an extension cord to the garage. Hopefully that will work out.

 

[pdirt]

Thanks for all the great ideas. I sent the hubby to Lowes to get pipe heating cable. He wrapped it around the waterers and ran an extension cord to the garage. Hopefully that will work out.

What kind of waterers do you use? Bowl, gravity tower, bucket with nipples? A pet store might also have a heated pet dish for keeping water from freezing as well.

 

[SoManyHats]

Bucket with nipples.

 

[pdirt]

Not sure how warm the pipe heating cable gets. Our nipples froze and we put in a 250w deicer made for 30gal in our 3 gal bucket and it took over 24 hours for the nipples to melt out in 20F weather. No problem since then.

Since you're not going to be gone that long, you might get away with putting as warm water as possible, but not too hot to burn the chickens before u leave. Ah never mind, I just realized you've already left for the day! Even if your birds are without water for a few hours due to feezing , I'm sure they'll be okay.