I DO NOT LIKE IT!

[SterlingAcres]

I don't know how you guys do it. My barn is maybe 40 yards from my house, but I'm sick of lugging water to the dogs, turkey and chickens every morning... then have to do it again in 2 hours, since everything freezes solid already! We're supposed to get 6 inches tonight. Fun fun fun.

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
EVER thought of installing a facet ? Nothing to digging a trench and running water line to barn . ALOT easier than hauling water .

 

[Sylvie]

We've had snow for weeks already and after splashing myself a few times I came up with a solution for carrying the water. I half fill a 5 gallon bucket and put a lid on it, load it on a kids plastic sled with bungie cords and pull it to the coop. I transport the big bags of feed this way, too. If no snow I load the water on a 2 wheel handcart and pull that. I'm hoping for a nice snowy winter this year!

 

[Akane]

sloshing water...get used to it.....it's gonna happen at least once a day if you want chickens

I was hauling 40gallons twice a day from the house 300' to the stable for a month last winter and I hardly spilled a drop. Never got any water on me. It's entirely possible. You just have to use something better than an open topped bucket. It's rather dumb that we still haul water around in huge open topped 5g buckets. There are tons of various containers made these days that can be used to haul water with screw on caps, side handles, etc... Far from stumbling along with a 5g bucket held in front of your legs. No you don't have to just suffer through sloshed water every day.​

 

[cajunlizz]

DUH !!!! WOULDN'T IT EASIER TO PLUMB PIPES AND INSTALL A FACET CLOSER ?

Geezz, don't take a rocket scientist to figure out an easier way .

 

[Mom 2em All]

Quote:
You have repeated this a couple times- and actually, for me, it wouldnt be easier to install water lines and a spigot out there. I don't have a barn, I have chickens in my backyard. I have a water spigot out there, but a hose would freeze in the cold we have- and when the water comes out of the spigot, it splashes in the mud- worse than carrying water. It is in a very less than ideal place in relation to my coop. And, I wouldn't know the first thing about running new water lines and installing any plumbing.

Nice idea however.

 

[Akane]

In colder climates it's really not that simple to run water. The pipe will just freeze in the ground. It requires heavy duty equipment to dig down deep enough. Then you still have issues. My stable loses water frequently in the winter from various issues with frozen pipes, frozen hoses, frozen faucet ends... and we did put the pipes deep enough and use heat tape. It is also way too late to do it. The ground is already starting to freeze. We can't put anything in the ground now. Last running water is a real pain. At the old place we had water run to every stall and I can't count the times a line got damaged by horse or weather or something quit working and flooded the place or stopped providing them water. Our current automatic waterer is not working for the 3rd time this year and it's a pretty high quality expensive waterer. Not a poorly done home made job. Honestly hauling water is sometimes less effort and headache than running water. A couple gallons a day to the chickens is nothing to me and a whole let less work than putting in a line and faucet.

 

[Sylvie]

My lines did freeze solid and burst. Every single one of them. And that was in my house when we lost power. I'm not dumb enough to try running plumbing out to an unheated coop 100 feet away having learned the hard way. We get way too cold here in January and February. That's not an option for us, either.

 

[krackerhill]

I must admit to feeling very selfish for complaining about our 40ish
mornings. Bless your hearts for working so hard at taking care of
your babies. I guess I really spoil mine....I made them farina and oatmeal for breakfast last week when it got cold. Hehee that might explain why they wait at the back door in the morning now. Good luck to all of you.

 

[antlers]

Carry your water in 2 pails half full. Balances you out and much less sloshing. It still freezes though unless you put a heat light over it!