Keeping water from freezing in the winter

[Melky]

https://www.amazon.ca/Farm-Innovato...ocphy=9001121&hvtargid=pla-491457660942&psc=1

Its pricy but its f****** cold where i live and it has NEVER froze very reliable. its a little pain to set up but worth it.

Thanks!

 

[Hoytman]

All this talk about how to keep water from freezing … via many methods … some work … some don't … most fail at some point … all this makes it easier to see why some people decide to just go ahead and heat their entire chicken house … even just to the point of not freezing … 33*F+.

I am currently housing my chickens in a wire run covered by (4 layers of 7 mill) 21 mill plastic on two sides, block wall on one side, and south side is open … of course during this -17*F to -27*F weather.

(I.R. temp gun measured on metal bucket on the porch … no wind chill here in SW Ohio … and temp taken with gun at midnight on 1-30-2019 … -27*F temp taken with I.R. gun on truck fender, truck parked outside in driveway. Should have taken a picture of the reading.)

I covered the south side of the wire with plywood as well as plywood over the door opening. I have 8"-10" pine shavings on the floor. Water … have to water 4 times a day because I don't yet have electric out at the chicken house, but the birds are just fine being I've kept the wind off of them … even my Leghorns … they have no frost damage to their combs … and I have to wonder if having a mixed flock of 16 birds has helped to keep them ALL warm … even though I have one GLW with a bare butt … she's managed to stay warm. Get this, they all choose to sleep on the floor too. In fact, the last two nights the Leghorns have decided to get up on the roost by themselves away from the rest of the birds and they still did fine. That tells me keeping the wind off of the birds is a BIG help to the birds. We have 15 hens and even in these temps my birds don't seem stressed. We are still getting 12-13 eggs each day on days temps are 10*F+ … sometimes still getting 15 eggs. Below 8*F to these far negative temperatures (-17F to -27F) we're still getting 8-11 eggs. Keep in mind our egg numbers include several breeds that were only supposed to lay 3-4 eggs weekly. So much for catalog numbers being accurate … which is a blessing. Our birds are really producing well for this weather, for the types of birds we have in our mixed flock, for their age of 7+ months … all with no added light. Yeah!!!

Thinking out loud below …

***Thinking about the ways to keep the water from freezing and such the thought occurred to me that for my situation it would be just as easy for me to heat my entire chicken coop a bit above freezing. Now, that goes against me wanting to keep my birds in their natural environment without heat and without added light, but it gives me options to think about. It would be easier to get my chicken house to stay above 33*F and not have to bother with frozen water or plywood, plastic, etc., all to prevent a mishap of losing a bird. Also, the thought of south facing glass windows in the chicken house can go a long way to keep the birds more comfortable and make care much easier ... as well as the thought of some type of "black heat sinks" inside the coop to catch the I.R. rays of the sun. ***​

 

[chicknmania]

Heated dog bowl work ($20.00 @ TSC). I have a heated chicken waterer ($40.00). If I had to do it over, I would do the heated dog bowl. We don't get cold weather for very long.

We switch out the waterers, it's a pain, but it works. WE also have a heated dog bowl, but I think I'm going to invest in a heated waterer, because with the dog bowl, the roosters dip their wattles in it to get a drink, and they can then get frostbite. Heated dog bowl works well though when temperatures are not brutally cold, but cold enough to possible put ice on the water.

 

[LulaBell]

These heated dog bowls are $14.95 at our farm store....I've used this one every winter for 3 years, with temps down to single digits...
View attachment 1616291

We live in SE Ohio and are having what will probably the coldest temps of the season right now (-teens w/ wind chills up to -30's) We use a plastic electric water bucket for our pigs (it remains outside) and one inside the coop for our chickens. They have not frozen over once and were inexpensive compared to other similar items. Both we purchased at TSC and are products I would recommend.

 

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

i use a heated base that my 5 gallon galvanized waterer sits on its 35$ st tractor supply.
they only last about 2-3 years, but its just so easy to put your waterer on top of it and forget about it.

 

[weezerfish]

I currently have a heated dog bowl that I've tried in several arrangements. Right now I have it sitting upside down with a 1 gallon plastic waterer sitting on top. Not working as well as I'd hoped so will go back to last year's configuration. So far it's the one that I have found works the best for me. Isn't perfect but here it is.

Fill the dog bowl with gravel to within an inch of the rim. Add water until the gravel is completely covered with an extra quarter of an inch of water above. Set the waterer in the shallow waterer on top of the gravel. This way you get the benefit of the heated water bowl with less risk of wattles getting dipped in. Just make sure you don't get too much or too little water in your dog bowl. Seems like it worked down to around 5 degrees. I would sometimes find frozen water stuck in the top of the waterer yet still have drinkable water down below. Only a viable plan for a small flock and once a day water checks.

Or...you could buy the really nice Premier1 waterer that was linked to earlier...which is most likely what I'm going to end up doing! LOL!

 

[Animals45]

hello everyone! I have been raising chickens for almost 5 years now and I’ve always struggled with keeping the flock’s water from constantly freezing. And I have a feeling I’m not the only one who struggles with this! I’ve tried different methods like using a ping pong ball, and putting a bottle of salt water inside the water, but both have failed to work for me. I’ve recently moved from Colorado to Vermont and now the winters are even colder then before. Does anyone have any tips or methods that have worked for them? I’d love to hear! Thanks in advence!

It is the same with me all of my water keeps freezing.
Maybe if you keep it in a barn it will keep it from freezing.

 

[Relleoms]

If you have electricity, this is a great waterer:
https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/heated-poultry-waterer

This is still working like a champ, even after hitting -21F (actual temp, not windchill) this week.

 

[bigmrg74]

This is what I've found to have worked well for me. I usually have it elevated a little on a flipped over metal hog pan, but having a electric heated waterer is easily the best option. And I like having it elevated off the floor of the coop like this because then the girls can't kick in all of the bedding and straw into it. Plus I think keeping the feeder and waterer up on the pallet table I made opens up more floor space, plus it offers up a way for someone to get away from somebody in the coop if they're being mean to everyone. All it is some 2x4's for legs, and some furring strips to keep the legs stable. Oh, and I do also have chicken wire on 3 of the sides, as I have also used it as a makeshift isolation cage in the coop for an injured chicken in the past. The fourth side was some panels from a puppy play pen that had a gate in it.

 

[rosemarythyme]

This is still working like a champ, even after hitting -21F (actual temp, not windchill) this week.

Hmm I didn't realize the Premier 1 waterer wasn't yet listed in the reviews section here, so I went ahead and added it: https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/premier-1-heated-poultry-waterer.11903/ so it'd be awesome if you could add some feedback as well, as I don't get the types of temperature you get so I could only comment on how it does down to around 20F.