Warm drinking water ok in winter?

[DanyyChicken]

Hi there,
For those of us without electricity in the coop is it ok to fill the chicken drinking waterer with warm tepid water? I was just thinking it may help to stave of the eventuality of frozen water. Is that ok to do? Give the chickens warm water to drink?
I was thinking I will be needing multiple waterers to rotate from coop to basement to thaw and then reset in run when thawed.

Same question in reverse for the layer crumbles. Right now I keep them in a brute plastic trash can( still within the bag) in the storage area of the coop. As the temps drop is it bad to be giving the chickens freezing cold dry crumbles? Do I need to move them into basement so they are kept a more reasonable temperature?

 

[benjoycei]

I don't think warm water is bad

 

[kuntrychick]

I may be wrong, but I think warmer water freezes faster than cold water.

 

[My11BabyChicks]

Quote:
This is very true...

 

[Imp]

I have always used warm water in the winter, and have never thought about bringing the pellets in.

Imp

 

[chick007]

it has been proven that warm or hot water freezes faster than cold water. as far as the feed goes, warm to cold tends to produce water which will cause feed to freeze anyway. think of frost on windshield on cold mornings, heat from vehicle causes moisture to condensate on windsheild which freezes.

 

[JodyJo]

Quote:
you can rotate the water...bring out fresh water to them when you tend to them in the am...
never heard of anyone bringing in the food...I get to the subzeros all winter..no ill effects on feed or hens.

I do give mine warm oatmeal on the very cold mornings...they love it, I know they are warm inside and they stay full! (I realize that had nothing to do with water or feed...)!

 

[2overeasy000]

Quote:
I do the same thing with rotating the waterers. It seemed to work pretty well. Also, I use warm water and it does hold off the freeze longer. Although in some situations hot water can freeze faster than cold water, my coop/my waterer was not one of those situations. Just like with the Mpemba effect, sometimes there is no explanation.

 

[OldGuy43]

Can't speak for the freezing part, but I can assure you that warm water is not a problem. We just went through a very hot summer here in Texas with them temps getting up to 110° F. Our hens drank their water with no ill effects.

 

[JodyJo]

I used one last year...my winters get sub zero....shavings got inside the waterer, I just scooped them out, shavings got on the heater, no fire...

I would do this before adding a heat lamp like the one poster said...if the electricity goes out, and the chickens are used to 50*, and the temp outside
is very cold...they will suffer....better off, either heated water base, or some of the other ideas on here...I would NOT add heat.

I didn't add heat last year and we get to -25* in the winter, they did fine.

I also have a rubber feed tub, with water, it freezes, I kick it and dump out ice, add new fresh water..this one is outside the coop.