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Last year I put a bird bath defroster in my nipple bucket in the coop. I ran electric into the coop, but not out side of it--I may rethink that in spring! This year I have the heated water bowl in the coop--they like it so much more than the nipple bucket, but I hate the humidity it provides.
 
Ok... hubby and I were talking ways to avoid frozen water and ways to simplify afternoon chores. We have heated caterers, so that isn't an issue, but carrying large amounts of water is still a pain.
Hubby found a few interesting reads, I think it may be of particular interest to @Blarneyeggs since she has goats also...
Anyone hear of solar waterers? Or compost heaters?....
Here is some interesting reading.
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/WaterHeating/water_heating.htm#Animals
Info on animal stock tanks near bottom of page.
And here is the solar bird bath page...
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/WaterHeating/BirdBath/SolarBirdBath.htm
Compost heat links...
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/BioFuel/biofuels.htm#CompostHeat
https://energymd.wordpress.com/2008/12/05/heat-free-nearly-with-a-compost-furnace/

We have a 250 gallon tank which I think we will set up over a compost heap next year with a circulating pump and piping through the compost. I figure we can pull warm water from it for a month and then turn on hose to refill, then drain off the hose to avoid freezing. Beats the heck out of carrying it daily!
 
Heck, just putting a compost pile in the corner of your run (contained in a frame so birds don't dig it up)...Then in top of heap dig a hole to set your black rubber pan down into. Maybe use a piece of plywood with a circle cut out for the pan to fit down into.
Even a small compost pile throws off a lot of heat and may be enough to keep the water from freezing if it is out of the wind.
 
AnneInTheBurbs said:
Wednesday night, on of my little roos was missing. I didn’t think much of it, I figured he got nabbed by a hawk or something.


Last night, thankfully, my husband was able to come home early for work. At about 3:30 he called me telling me a large fox was running around nabbing my chickens. I have my dog with me at work, which is 35 minutes away. I was able to leave work early and speed home.

It was so scary because my husband called me twice on the way home saying, he came back again. Eek! Of course it didn’t care if my hubby was out there either.

Thankfully, it looks like I only lost two girls, with one more injured. I think because they were free ranging, it worked in their favor, since they were able to scatter.

I have a gentleman in my neighborhood who is a licensed and insured hunter who is going to take care of my problem. The fox was huge, almost as big as my dog. When I talked to my neighbor this morning, she said she hasn’t seen her (outside) cat in a few days either.

I will also be buying a radio to play talk radio all day while I am not home. If we get any warm days, I will be putting a roof on my run and securing the heck out of it

My one injured girl has a few bad tears, but I think she should make a full recovery.
Click to expand...

Your hubby needs a gun! Mine shot a fox last year because it was too close to the coop and we were yelling at it to go away but it wouldn't. It ended up having mange once we took a look at it. Very nasty disease, it's a good thing we put it out of its misery. I saw another fox this spring, in daylight! Thankfully I work at home and I saw it outside the window. It was very skinny and strange looking. Probably had mange. They're such creepy animals up close. I scared that one away and it didn't come back thankfully. I hope the hunter can take care of your fox asap.


fisherlady said:
Ok... hubby and I were talking ways to avoid frozen water and ways to simplify afternoon chores. We have heated caterers, so that isn't an issue, but carrying large amounts of water is still a pain.
Hubby found a few interesting reads, I think it may be of particular interest to @Blarneyeggs since she has goats also...
Anyone hear of solar waterers? Or compost heaters?....
Here is some interesting reading.
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/WaterHeating/water_heating.htm#Animals
Info on animal stock tanks near bottom of page.
And here is the solar bird bath page...
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/WaterHeating/BirdBath/SolarBirdBath.htm
Compost heat links...
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/BioFuel/biofuels.htm#CompostHeat
https://energymd.wordpress.com/2008/12/05/heat-free-nearly-with-a-compost-furnace/

We have a 250 gallon tank which I think we will set up over a compost heap next year with a circulating pump and piping through the compost. I figure we can pull warm water from it for a month and then turn on hose to refill, then drain off the hose to avoid freezing. Beats the heck out of carrying it daily!
Click to expand...

Well I don't have a lot of birds (13), but I use metal dog bowls in the winter, and just replace the water twice or 3 times a day. The metal bowl is easy to use since the ice just falls out & I pour a new bowl. It would be nice to have heated bowls but I refuse to have any electricity for my coop. The water only freezes when the chickens stop drinking, since they break the thin ice when they peck at the water.

My chickens have been locked up for about 2 weeks straight due to the snow we got, and now the freezing temps. How do you all keep them from getting bored? I've thrown in leftovers for them to eat, but I don't know what else to do for them. :confused:
 
Auroradream26 said:
I have 2 of them, and they're awesome. The old one I had kicked the bucket though :/ I keep 1 in the turkey coop and 1 in a breeding pen. I had it in the layer own but my goofy geese kept "bathing" in it and spilling it everywhere so I had to move it. Hopefully, I can pick up a few more eventually for my other pens. Frozen water is SUCH a pain. If we ever got our of single didgets, the nipple waterer will work in the layer coop again but as of now, it's frozen :/
Click to expand...
We have a heated base. The normal waterer sits on top. No bathing possible!
 
gonehencrazy said:
We have a heated base. The normal waterer sits on top. No bathing possible!
Click to expand...
Do you have any waterfowl? They can get very creative when trying to bathe. But perhaps more importantly, it is crucial for waterfowl to be able to get their heads under the water. I use a heated bucket for the Welsh Harlequins. I had to build a wood frame around and over the top to make the opening too small for them to climb in, but still large enough for them to easily dunk all the way to the bottom of the bucket. I try to empty and refill the bucket each day, an top off a second time if I'm going by. They seem to be fine in this weather.
 

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