The Quack Shack

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Sorry to hear this Frank. Our snow is heavy and we have only been able to move part of it as we have to do it by hand. I have helped as much as I could but it is very heavy and I am no spring chicken. I still can help though and plan on going out again soon to move some more of it. This is another one of those winters to remember and to try to forget!!! I would rather have the snow than what you got for sure.

I have seen a video from somebody in Utah, who dissolved a bag of rock-salt into a homer-bucket (30l) added some molasses and sprayed his driveway with that solution. Spraying brine covers the surface more evenly, using the salt more efficiently. And the molasses makes it stick, so the salt can melt even more ice.
I am planning to try that later.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

That's the idea - have a very large container (barrel, IBC?) with a submersible heater in it so you can restock from there instead of returning to the house. It worked for us even in -17 C / -6 C days.

Sorry to hear about covid It's very random in its intensity and after-effects, some people hardly notice it and some are left with enduring issues, especially concerning lungs or veins. Fingers crossed it works out well for you.

I like the idea of having a large water container close to the dux house, especially when during the warm season i could catch rain-water in there. However, right now the hose is frozen and i would have to re-stock the large container with buckets. I need to unfreeze that hose...

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I got more heated water bowls from our Rural King recently and they were only around 20 some dollars. I have a 5 outlet current tap that is for the outdoors that I plug five of them in with an extension cord and another that will hold 3 on another cord. This is why I insisted we put the pens up next to our house so that things like this would reach our outside outlet. I was afraid the flex hose would freeze up yesterday with all of the snow so I carried water to them but today when it reached 17 degrees, the high for the day, I used it and was able to give them all fresh water. The buckets are froze to the ground but I can run the water quickly in a circle in them and they will empty out so I can put fresh in. It's difficult if you don't have power available to them. I feel for you Frank.

I do have power at the dux-house, but as you know dux are very playful and investigative and there have been a couple of accidents reported with heated bowls where the dux managed to pull out insulation causing short-circuits and electric dux.
I am working on an entirely separated dux-circuit so that playful dux won't be able to short-circuit the humon-house, but that will take some time...

 

[Luv Ducks]

I like the idea of having a large water container close to the dux house, especially when during the warm season i could catch rain-water in there. However, right now the hose is frozen and i would have to re-stock the large container with buckets. I need to unfreeze that hose...

I have one of those flex hoses that I use Frank and bring it in each time after I am done with it. None of my other hoses would have ever worked in these conditions and I only use them when it is above freezing and will stay that way.