It’s that time of the year and our feathered friends are frying. Not literally; well hopefully. While I’m newer to raising chickens I have been homesteading for some time and I do have a few useful tricks up my sleeve; one being Pykrete.
The story of Pykrete is not all that old, but perhaps a bit more novel when repurposed for chickens. Pykrete is a frozen alloy composed of water and wood pulp. The wood pulp may be wood shavings, wood dust, newspaper, or something we all have in abundance - toilet paper. Combining the water to your pulp at a 6:1 (water/pulpweighted ratio will reduce thermal conductivity and may help your ice last three times longer.
The most simple application is using a large water bottle, packing it with wood pulp, and freezing overnight. I’d recommend two water bottles of Pykrete so that you can cycle regularly. Test for your watering solution and decide if you want to use more. This should help eliminate the need for using ice in your chickens water during the day.
Another application can be the “5 gallon bucket air conditioner.” While there’s a lot of debate as to the effectiveness on these setups, I decided to play Devil’s advocate and test. With my current set up I’m able to reduce the temperature in my girls 4’x8’ coop an average of 7-8 degree during the night. Just like with your house, insulation is important. That said, this temperature was with multiple vents still opened. If I close them I believe I could get a temp drop of 10-12 degrees.
If you’re considering building one of these for a large space I would not waste the time. I spent around $25 altogether for my version. $15 for the fan. $5 for bucket and lid. Another $5 for the pvc pieces and additional screws. As seen in the photo above, the large bucket of Pykrete goes on the inside of this bucket. The fan faces downward creating mild compressing and forced air out of the pvc ports. I also keep a brick on the inside of the bucket that the smaller bucket sit on. The reason for this is to minimize condensation build up in the out bucket so I can keep the bedding below dry.
The story of Pykrete is not all that old, but perhaps a bit more novel when repurposed for chickens. Pykrete is a frozen alloy composed of water and wood pulp. The wood pulp may be wood shavings, wood dust, newspaper, or something we all have in abundance - toilet paper. Combining the water to your pulp at a 6:1 (water/pulpweighted ratio will reduce thermal conductivity and may help your ice last three times longer.
The most simple application is using a large water bottle, packing it with wood pulp, and freezing overnight. I’d recommend two water bottles of Pykrete so that you can cycle regularly. Test for your watering solution and decide if you want to use more. This should help eliminate the need for using ice in your chickens water during the day.
Another application can be the “5 gallon bucket air conditioner.” While there’s a lot of debate as to the effectiveness on these setups, I decided to play Devil’s advocate and test. With my current set up I’m able to reduce the temperature in my girls 4’x8’ coop an average of 7-8 degree during the night. Just like with your house, insulation is important. That said, this temperature was with multiple vents still opened. If I close them I believe I could get a temp drop of 10-12 degrees.
If you’re considering building one of these for a large space I would not waste the time. I spent around $25 altogether for my version. $15 for the fan. $5 for bucket and lid. Another $5 for the pvc pieces and additional screws. As seen in the photo above, the large bucket of Pykrete goes on the inside of this bucket. The fan faces downward creating mild compressing and forced air out of the pvc ports. I also keep a brick on the inside of the bucket that the smaller bucket sit on. The reason for this is to minimize condensation build up in the out bucket so I can keep the bedding below dry.
