No electricity to coop and worried about freezing water

[jessabender]

Hi all, I'm a new chicken mom (got 4 chicks about a week ago) and am already worrying about how to keep them watered in winter... has anyone come up with any genius ways to help keep water from freezing? I'm in northeast Wisconsin where temps are mostly below freezing in winter, and I will not have electricity to my coop. Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I'm in central Wisconsin. I use rubber pans and buckets. I crack out ice or just top off with hot water daily, usually once is enough. I use a gallon watering can which is easy to carry out. You also can just switch out pans or buckets daily, and thaw them in the house.

 

[jessabender]

I'm in central Wisconsin. I use rubber pans and buckets. I crack out ice or just top off with hot water daily, usually once is enough. I use a gallon watering can which is easy to carry out. You also can just switch out pans or buckets daily, and thaw them in the house.

Great, thanks! Another question; do you keep the water in the run or in their house?

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
Electricity does make things much easier, but those black rubber pans do work. Have two, so if you can't dump the ice out, it can thaw while you use the other one, and carry the water out there. Four birds will be easy!
With a larger flock, having heated waterers, and a frost free hydrant at the coop, and lighting, are all wonderful!
Can you run an outdoor extension cord out there? Not ideal, but can be practical in winter.
Mary

 

[NatJ]

Carrying fresh water twice a day works.

It can also help to serve them some wet chicken food--just put a little in a dish, pour warm or hot water over it, let the water soak in, serve it. The chickens see it as a treat and gobble it up fast, and it ensures that they get both food and water. (Leave dry food available constantly, and fresh water at least twice a day, but wet food as an extra seems to help them eat enough during the cold and the short days. It also helps the owner feel better.)

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Great, thanks! Another question; do you keep the water in the run or in their house?

I have mine inside. Some winter days my birds need to stay inside the coop or shed. If your run is covered it can stay out, otherwise birds may not go out. It does depend on your coop and run. Mine are quite large.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Welcome!
Electricity does make things much easier, but those black rubber pans do work. Have two, so if you can't dump the ice out, it can thaw while you use the other one, and carry the water out there. Four birds will be easy!
With a larger flock, having heated waterers, and a frost free hydrant at the coop, and lighting, are all wonderful!
Can you run an outdoor extension cord out there? Not ideal, but can be practical in winter.
Mary

Here in Wisconsin the frost depth can be 6-7 feet down some years. Our hydrant line is only 3-4 feet deep and freezes most years. So it's great until it isn't.

 

[Folly's place]

I grew up in Wisconsin, and have lived in balmy southern Michigan for a long time! Our water lines have frozen twice, during very cold weather, but generally are fine at 4' deep.
Mary

 

[BuffRunner1]

Other ideas that may help with freezing water: take the water in at night to your basement so it won’t freeze, then put it out in the early morning. Works best with gallon waters.
Also some people put a bottle with saltwater in their waterer. Since the saltwater is hard to freeze, this seems to keep the other water from freezing.

 

[LizzzyJo]

I took the non electric route for a while, but dang carrying those buckets of hot water gets old freaking fast. I eventually ran an outdoor electrical wire out about 100 feet to the coop for a little base water heater and basked in relief. I only do it during the winters and the coop is not heated. Because the water is heated it is in the run not the henhouse. Condensation is enemy #1 to fluffy butt cold tolerance.