Water bottles to keep water from freezing?

[SoManyHats]

Hi all! I'm getting chickens in a few weeks, and I'm trying to plan coop management for the winter. In gardening, we can use water bottles to collect heat from the sun during the day, then put them in the greenhouse or cold frame at night, where they will slowly release the heat. So I'm wondering if it would work to use this method to keep my water from freezing overnight.

Basically I'd paint water bottles black (non-toxic paint) and let them sit in a sunny location all day. I would then put the bottle(s) into the 5-gallon water bucket in the evening. Has anyone tried this?

 

[barnaclebob]

It might work but your probably better off with a heater of some kind. How cold does it get where you live?

I've got a bucket which feeds a pipe which has drinker cups on it. I'm going to try heated pipe cable this year for dozen or so days where the water might freeze here.

 

[SoManyHats]

Thanks, but I'm trying to limit my use of technology and electricity. We don't spend much time below freezing here. Avg low is low 40s.

 

[Alaskan]

Thanks, but I'm trying to limit my use of technology and electricity. We don't spend much time below freezing here. Avg low is low 40s.

In that case, don't do anything.

Hens don't drink at night anyway, so if it drops cold enough to freeze at night, no biggie.

With temps like that, I would guess that "frozen water" probably means just a crust of ice on top. My girls will happily peck through an ice sheet.

If you do get cold, it probably won't last long, so I would plan on just taking out a tea kettle of boiling water to pour into their waterer, and that will probably be enough to keep it at least mostly ice free for 8 hours or more.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Use cold water in the morning to top off or defrost their water bowl. Hot water freezes faster than cold water.

 

[Alaskan]

Use cold water in the morning to top off or defrost their water bowl. Hot water freezes faster than cold water.

maybe, maybe not.

It totally depends on your individual conditions.

This is a good explanation.

http://chemistry.about.com/b/2012/03/02/can-hot-water-freeze-faster-than-cold-water.htm

 

[SoManyHats]

In that case, don't do anything. 


Hens don't drink at night anyway, so if it drops cold enough to freeze at night, no biggie.

With temps like that, I would guess that "frozen water" probably means just a crust of ice on top.  My girls will happily peck through an ice sheet.

If you do get cold, it probably won't last long, so I would plan on just taking out a tea kettle of boiling water to pour into their waterer, and that will probably be enough to keep it at least mostly ice free for 8 hours or more.

I didn't realize they didn't drink at night! In that case, I probably won't do anything. One less thing to worry about!.

Thanks!

 

[SoManyHats]

maybe, maybe not.

It totally depends on your individual conditions.

This is a good explanation.

http://chemistry.about.com/b/2012/03/02/can-hot-water-freeze-faster-than-cold-water.htm

Fascinating!