How do I keep water from freezing in winter?

[ninjascrub69]

Hello, i have always just broken the ice and dumped it out of the waterer, and filled it, then repeated, its getting old. Is there a way to keep their water from freezing without using a water heater? Is there anything i can put in their water to keep it from freezing?

 

[sydney13]

some people use vegetable oil in bird baths but I don't think that fully stops the freezing just slows it. i have a rubber 5 gallon duraflex bucket and it guarantees to be freeze proof. Ive never used it in the winter so i don't know that this is really true but if it does freeze it should be easily to dump out seeing that its rubber.

 

[Toril]

If it gets down to freezing here overnight (their water is on the floor inside), I use packing tape and attach a heat pad to the underside of the waterer - you know the kind you get at the drugstore to put on your back that gives 8 hours of heat and relieves pain... It works great!

 

[raimnel]

through out the day I switch out their waterer with the one I took into the house to thaw. LOL however some one on BYC found a waterer with a BUILT IN heater. I don't really want to go buy another waterer. someone said something also about using one of those christmas tins with a light bulb in it and put the water on top of it. some thing like that. I wonder if a light bulb in a cement block would work??? and what about if your waterer is plastic??? Hmmmm. Gotta think, oh man winter is comming WAY to fast! Good luck

 

[Tracyfeltsmills]

I'm gonna try a cast iron dutch oven w hot fireplace coles in pan and top up. hoping it works fresh out of ideas.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
People have made things similar to the christmas tin with a cement block -- have to be careful to shield the sires from the chickens.

Heated dog waterers cost a few bucks but lots of people use them

I wonder if the OP is talking about a way to do it without power, though. I wonder if something solar would be worth looking into.

I just used a heat lamp last year, but we don't have a great number of nights that get that cold. Think I'll shop for regular light bulbs that are red this year. One winter no one thought to turn off the outside water and we did not have a pipe burst -- freeze, yes, til mid AM, but that was all.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
I really like this idea, esp. in this climate. Should be easy to break up any ice that forms if it works even halfway well.

 

[bigoakhunter]

I use a heated dogs dish. Has a protected cord and never froze last winter. The other good thing is price...about half that of a heated chicken waterer or heated base. The one drawback is size it is about 1/2 gal. in size versus my 3 gal. waterers I use all summer. For a small flock this might be ideal.

Dave

 

[wildeflowers]

Quote:
Okay, that is brilliant

, but would get expensive up here in frozen New England. You can do that in VIRGINIA! LOL

 

[fresheggs4u]

I use a large cookie tin that I mounted a light bulb in using a household lamp kit. I then plug it into a heat tape thermostat that only comes on around freezing. I set my waterer on top on it. Work great. The colder the winter the hight watt bulb i use.