She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[mixedUPturk]

Thank you. I just have a good feeling about the eggs coming next week. For some reason, if the seller is an active member of BYC, it just makes me feel better! Pork roast..they didn't look like beef. My son loves pork roast too! He'll eat 5-6 thick slices when I make it and he's only 10 (almost)!
That makes me feel so much better! I went to bed last night thinking I killed them all on the counter!!
I love blue and green eggs! That's awesome!
Exactly! I have one extension cord running out to the coop and I hate it!

Seems like its always you that i miss! Thank you!

 

[mixedUPturk]

I couldn't live in Alaska  (AK) in winter, but summers sure look nice.   North of AK...not much up there...

Lol i ment Arkansas still cant remmember the Correct abbreviation

 

[WVduckchick]

Our climate is cold, as in a barrel of water will freeze and stay frozen November to March.

I use a 55 gallon food safe barrel in each coop, with a stock tank heater in the bottom. I tapped in a hose bib and sealed it with polybutylene sealant.

From the hose bib, I use garden hose with a length of pipe heat cable from one end to the other, and wrap it in pipe insulation and duct tape. I start the wrap around the hose bib, and leave a tail of about a foot in the water bowl.

I use the horse waterer floats along with a poly "salt block holder" for a waterer.

This solution works well in my open sided coops until the temp drops below 10F.

Sounds like some of the ideas that hubby has been floating around. We found some nearby food safe barrels on CL for $10 each.
Good info on the hoses too... thanks!

If any of you choose to go the underground water pipe route, I've got a never-used frost-free hydrant you can have if you're close enough to make it worthwhile coming after. I bought it years ago when I was going to run water & electric to the barn. When I finally found a guy to do it, I had no need anymore.

How far are you from the eastern panhandle of WV? Like Martinsburg area? My hubby travels there at least a time or two each month.

 

[lazy gardener]

All this about feeders is great info! But now I'm working on winter-weather-water solutions!

Background for my area: 0-30F normal in the winter here, but days usually get above freezing. Usually. We do have occasions when we get dumped on by a couple feet of snow at a time, but it usually doesn't stick around very long.

So now that I have (hubby made me count last night

) 46 chickens/ducks/turkey... I need some anti-freeze solutions. I used one waterer with a heated base last year, but I only had 2 roosters then!!

So if anyone wants to share their winter water ideas, I would greatly appreciate it!

With your temps getting above freezing during the day, you shouldn't need much heat. What are you using for water? Bucket and nipples? A submersible aquarium heater would work. I use a heated dog bowl, and love it. I put a gallon jug in the middle, to make a "moat" so they don't walk in it. Where my temp gets below 0 and will stay there for days at a time, I can't afford having my gals get their feet wet. Also, the moat helps keep them from dragging their wattles in the water. A cookie tin heater would work nicely for you. What ever you make, just be sure that it is safe... Water + electricity, heat + shavings/dust are all dangerous combinations. I think that Bee Kissed (also WV) put her water bowl in the middle of an old tire, and that kept her water toasty warm b/c of the solar gain and insulation provided by the tire.

 

[kwhites634]

Sounds like some of the ideas that hubby has been floating around. We found some nearby food safe barrels on CL for $10 each.
Good info on the hoses too... thanks!


How far are you from the eastern panhandle of WV? Like Martinsburg area? My hubby travels there at least a time or two each month.

I'm a bit north of Frederick, MD, It's about 1/2 hr., maybe a bit less, to the Potomac River bridge, via rte 340/15S

I just PM'd you.

 

[WVduckchick]

With your temps getting above freezing during the day, you shouldn't need much heat.  What are you using for water?  Bucket and nipples?  A submersible aquarium heater would work.  I use a heated dog bowl, and love it.  I put a gallon jug in the middle, to make a "moat" so they don't walk in it.  Where my temp gets below 0 and will stay there for days at a time, I can't afford having my gals get their feet wet.  Also, the moat helps keep them from dragging their wattles in the water.  A cookie tin heater would work nicely for you.  What ever you make, just be sure that it is safe... Water + electricity, heat + shavings/dust are all dangerous combinations.  I think that Bee Kissed (also WV) put her water bowl in the middle of an old tire, and that kept her water toasty warm b/c of the solar gain and insulation provided by the tire.  

PVC with nipples, and also plastic, and galvanized font style waterers... at home. I won't have as much trouble at home... Its my camp that will need more freeze protection because I only go there every other day, and if the roads get bad, it could be longer in the winter. The hanging one I used last year was ok, but want something with more water capacity and more reliable. Thanks for the ideas!

I'm a bit north of Frederick, MD, It's about 1/2 hr., maybe a bit less, to the Potomac River bridge, via rte 340/15S

I just PM'd you.

Got it thanks!

 

[kwhites634]

PVC with nipples, and also plastic, and galvanized font style waterers... at home. I won't have as much trouble at home... Its my camp that will need more freeze protection because I only go there every other day, and if the roads get bad, it could be longer in the winter. The hanging one I used last year was ok, but want something with more water capacity and more reliable. Thanks for the ideas!
Got it thanks!

I just had another idea:
I had an uncle who built an outdoor shower at his 'getaway cabin' from a 50 gal steel drum, painted black to absorb heat, raised on a platform for gravity feed to the shower head. Wonder if the same thing would work for bulk storage of water for chickens, or would it still freeze?

 

[WalnutHill]

Depending on the temperature through the winter, it may still freeze. Gravity feed doesn't circulate in the hose at all, and convection in the barrel during the day would be offset by heat loss through the steel at night. It would work if night time temps dip below freezing, but not for an extended freezing spell.

 

[frmboyinthecity]

I just had another idea:
I had an uncle who built an outdoor shower at his 'getaway cabin' from a 50 gal steel drum, painted black to absorb heat, raised on a platform for gravity feed to the shower head. Wonder if the same thing would work for bulk storage of water for chickens, or would it still freeze?

I think this would be interesting to try. I think you'd have to make sure that unless you had the nipples right into the bottom of the drum, you'd have to make sure that any hoses and things like that were well insulated. But I am intrigued by the concept.

I have an artesian well that runs on my property that I'm trying to figure out how to utilize. It runs all winter, and the snow above where the pipe runs always melts first. I've been trying to think of a good way to water my chickens with this. Currently the well is piped underground around the side of my house and spills into the rain gutter on the street. I've utilized it all summer in my garden, but I haven't figured out how to water my chickens with it without creating an ice skating rink in my backyard.

 

[kwhites634]

Depending on the temperature through the winter, it may still freeze. Gravity feed doesn't circulate in the hose at all, and convection in the barrel during the day would be offset by heat loss through the steel at night. It would work if night time temps dip below freezing, but not for an extended freezing spell.

Was afraid of that. Uncle was in western KY: eastern WV a bit colder