Liquid h2o in winter w/o electricity?

[Kris5902]

That’s partially why I’ve been avoiding wet feed. Yesterday I cooked them eggs and leftover roast beef and cornbread crumbles. Only about 1/2 - 3/4 gallon for all 43 chickens, they ate that well before it had a chance to freeze! I will try the saltwater bottles. That’s something I can try with what I have on hand.

If I had extra insulation around I’d try the box idea, but the trip into town to get some would take me away for 7-8 hours at least, and this “freezing weather” is going to be quite temporary! We pasture our cattle fully so they are still ranging over about ten acres of field in “confinement” while we wait on calving, makes manure collection challenging, and it’s mostly all frozen!

Thanks for all the suggestions. And yes my degrees are Celsius, thankfully! I can’t wait until I have a house, with proper insulation and solar power! So far 3 lambs since the day before yesterday! It’s getting busy again...

 

[PirateGirl]

Insulating your water will help it last longer before freezing. You'll have to work with what you have. Bubble wrap around the waterer, or set it in the middle of an old tire stuffed with straw, even an old blanket or something wrapped around it might help. You could even use an old igloo cooler as your waterer.

Honestly, now, I just fill the water once or twice a day. If there are a few hours in the middle of the day while no one is home and things freeze up, the birds will be fine. Is this ideal? No. Is it ok? Yes. How long do you go without drinking during the day? You could go quite awhile if you had to. Is it ideal? No. Will you be ok if you get a tall glass of water in a few hours? Yes. Do your best. Try not to stress too much. They should be just fine.