HELP! need a cordless way to keep water thawed!

[Bear Foot Farm]

12/2Uf-With Gx100

Building Wire Direct Bury Romex

 

[lbrykowski2011]

Make sure it's the right type to be buried

It will have "UF" (undeground feed) in the description, similar to this:


Southwire Company 12/2UF-WGX100

12/2Uf-With Gx100

Building Wire Direct Bury Romex

Thanks, we actually have a friend on this site who is an electrician that's helping us with advice. That's what i like about the states thread(mine is Mi), he volunteered his help when he seen he was just around the corner from us. There are so many helpful and nice people on here. I will definitely make sure underground feed is in the description. Thanks again

 

[aart]

It appears that some people misunderstand my situation. I began this thread to gather information to help me with a task that i take QUITE SERIOUSLY! Please do not make false accusations against me when you know absolutely nothing about my life! I work very hard to care for my animals, all 28 of them! I entered this website to find advice on a project that my whole family has invested greatly in! When i became involved in this site, i was only looking for helpful advice, so keep your comments in that direction please.

If you post on a public forum you have to be ready for any kind of response, people can over-react, the only thing you can do is make sure you don't over-react...if the advice doesn't fit your situation, ignore it.

You did say you that didn't have time to water your animals...and that can cause some strong reactions...and Ridgerunner gives very good advice, take 20 minutes and read some of their posts and you'll see what I mean.

Good Luck to you in your endeavors.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Folks kept chickens for centuries before Thomas Edison and yes, even in bitter cold climates.

Folks carried water for their birds, morning and afternoon, every day, day after day. Keeping the birds properly hydrated is essential, of course. The rubber bowls make removing the inevitable ice formations easy to remove.

Apart from running electricity, I know of no other alternative than watering in the early morning and again in the afternoon. BTW, carrying the water in a couple of old milk gallon jugs give you a handle and there's less chance of spilling, on the way out to the coop.

 

[Kyzmette]

http://m.instructables.com/id/Best-Solar-Oven/

Ignore the judgemental ones who don't have a clue what's going on in your life. Tune them out, because that negativity doesn't deserve a single moment of your happiness.

This is one example of ideas you can look for that might help. I read an article a while back about a kid who, for a science fair project, created a way to heat a pen for the winter with a solar box lined by foil and a black milk jug, but I didn't see it on a quick search. I've been looking into the use of black pavers and foil, too. I'm going to try an auto-feed waterer painted black and installed in the foil "oven".

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

http://m.instructables.com/id/Best-Solar-Oven/

Ignore the judgemental ones who don't have a clue what's going on in your life. Tune them out, because that negativity doesn't deserve a single moment of your happiness.

This is one example of ideas you can look for that might help. I read an article a while back about a kid who, for a science fair project, created a way to heat a pen for the winter with a solar box lined by foil and a black milk jug, but I didn't see it on a quick search. I've been looking into the use of black pavers and foil, too. I'm going to try an auto-feed waterer painted black and installed in the foil "oven".

All of those are fine to warm things up when the Sun is shining.
None of it will keep water from freezing overnight, or on a cloudy day

 

[Kyzmette]

Well, technically you don't really need to. You just need to make sure you have a way of melting water after it freezes. A Kyoto solar oven has the potential to do that. Here's a link to a different version that makes a lot of promises, but I haven't set it up yet to try it. Water freezing overnight wouldn't be much different than what domsticated livestock has lived through for centuries before owners could get out and break holes in the ice.

http://solarcooking.org/plans/funnel.htm

To keep it from freezing in a deeply cold environment (almanac says it's going to be brutal this year), you would really need to look at a full revamping of the area using greenhouse techniques. I've been collecting old windows to repurpose as a connected greenhouse area attached to a chicken coop, but it's a little short notice for a total rebuild at this point in the season. There are plenty of greenhouse techniques that can keep an area heated above freezing overnight even in the dead of winter.

The story that attracted my attention to the Kyoto oven was an article about a kid who used it as a science fair project to keep drinkable water for his pet rabbits all winter. I'll keep looking for it, but I don't remember all the specifics on it.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: Water in a solar oven isn't available to the chickens.
They can get hot enough to boil water, and STILL only work when there is bright Sun, and it's pointed in the right direction

Quote: That's great if your chickens live in a greenhouse.
I've never seen any that did, and most every greenhouse I've seen had heaters to keep them above freezing if it was important to so so

 

[Kyzmette]

Wow, okay.

For everybody else who can use Google to research, there are tons of articles out there. The Homesteading trend has a lot of followers and there are plenty of hobbyists who off-grid and utilize greenhouse techniques. I would be very interested in a positive discussion with people who are interested in trying them. I had a health setback a couple of years ago or I ike to think I would already have mine up, but I'm hoping to have it going by next winter.

 

[4 the Birds]

My advice would be to run an electric line out to your coup if you are in a Northern Region. 300 ft is pretty far but it can be done. Some of the tricks mentioned may help for stretches of cold but if you have long periods of deep cold then you will save a lot of headaches with breaking up frozen water or multiple trips to the coop to ensure the birds have water. You will be disappointed with trying out some of the "cordless" solar solutions unless you dish out a lot of money.

Bear Foot mentioned some direct bury romex wire which would be an economical solution if you can do some simple wiring for your connections. If you connect to an exterior outlet then be sure that it has the exterior waterproof cover and it is a GFI outlet. You can get a GFI outlet for 20 bucks and they are pretty easy to install. If you use extension cords then be sure they are the heavy duty ones (they can be pricey) and well taped for water proofing at the connections. Local electric codes usually require X amount of depth and within elec pvc conduit. Use common sense and you can get elec out to the coop yourself without a lot of cost. On the ground wiring may be fine temporarily to get quick elec to the coop when ground becomes frozen. You will want the bury the line when the ground thaws.