Water Freezing - no electricity to coop- any ideas?

I've seen many vintage oil lamp heated galvanized waterers on ebay... the lamp compartment is usually in an enclosed base under the water container. I'm not sure how long the lamp will stay lit, but I'd bet it would get you through 8 hours or so. Main concern is the fire hazard, you will have to mount it in a way that the chickens can't knock it over. They normally run about $100 plus shipping. Hope this helps...

Regards-
 
Central Ohio and freezing quick also BUT keep it simple and I have 30+ fowl and have 2 rubber buckets I rotate through the day(they only get the liquid 2x a day and , yes, they get thirsty so they drink up before it gets frozen!) I don't have an outside water source so I have to break out water(simple w/rubber bucket) and refill with a 4 gallons I carry out from the bathtub.
 
The dilemma, no electricity.... doesn't have it and can't have it. So, there are 2 options, carry water morning and before chicken bedtime or figure out a way to set up it's own energy.
The hot rocks might be helpful, probably wouldn't last as long as you think in bitter cold, the rice pack si the worst, they would have it picked to bits and eating uncooked rice can kill birds plus it won't last long to warm the water in freezing temps.

So
1 - Carry water simple and cheap
2 - find a power source (not so simple and all expensive)

I vote to just carry water. You're going to be out at least once or twice a day anyway. They need to drink their fill twice a day.

I always wonder why people never plan ahead. Waiting until the water is frozen? I can't make too much fun of you all though because I'm human too. You might see if you can figure out a power source, cheaply. There is really no rush because you "can" carry water. You might develop an easy way to carry it to them if it's a good distance and make it a little easier.

Watch for a used solar power fence charger and find someone who can help you wire it to wire it into a power converter and run the cord into the coop to the power converter, which should be mounted to the wall and something over the top that's slanted so they don't roost on top of it... :) You could take a piece of just about anything, even an old rubber floor mat and nail it above the box so it drapes over the top at an angle like a roof. If it's flat at all, they will find a way to roost on it.

Then you can plug a power strip into that power source for a light (that you can even put on a timer) and a heated chicken waterer....they have those and you might find one used or a home made water heater. You might even consider one of those thermostatic controlled outlet so the water is only heated when the outside temp is below freezing so it even save energy.
http://www.thermocube.com/
 
If you watch wild animals in their natural habitats, you will notice that the majority of their water intake is taken during the morning when they first start moving around and in the evenings before they bed down or roost... unless your are talking about nocturnal animals in which case the times are switched...
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I take water out twice a day too! Since we buy gallons of drinking water I refill the jugs & carry 4 at a time, or I just drag them out on a plastic sled to the chickens & ducks.

I've stopped using chicken waterers altogether. They were way too much work to refill & clean in cold weather. I just cut an opening in the front of an empty water jug (a big circle that starts in front and goes halfway down) so the chickens can get their heads in. I fill it 1/2 way up with warm water. The birds just stick their heads in & drink right out of the jug. Since the jug still has a handle I actually bang it on a tree when it freezes and refill it twice a day. I like this because I can throw them away if they get yucky or if they get a leak from being banged too much. The water stays cleaner & I have nothing to wash out and I can use as many as I need.

The ducks have a bucket on a heated water pedestal (with an outdoor extension cord) which usually doesn't freeze. But I stumbled on an idea for the ducks that I love & they do too - I fill an upsidedown plastic garbage can lid with water. Even when it's ridiculously cold they actually get in it and wash off their feathers. I set the lid in a hole (there's usually a hole somewhere in their yard, or in the snow) and I put a brick in the bottom to keep them from tipping it too much (the brick is optional of course). You don't even need to fill it up, just a gallon will do. I let them splash while I work then when I'm ready to go in I dump it, or leave it and alternate with another lid.

I really enjoy hearing all these great ideas to make things easier &I'm really encouraged that I'm not the only one who's on "chicken time" doing the chicken winter water run!
 
I recently read to put ping pong balls because with any type of moment, they will move around and prevent the water from freezing. I haven't tried it yet. Good luck.
 
I don't have electricity in my coop and it gets really cold here, so I fill up the waterer with hot water in the evening. And in the morning I go out there and fill it up with hot water again! I only do it twice a day the water freezes solid during the night but only for one hour at the most and when I put the waterer in the coop in the morning the chickens aren't even interested in it!

I don't use HOT water! Just a bit warmer then warm!:) I hope I could help!
 
like the other guy says... Warm water freezes faster... Im sure they appreciate a warm drink in the morning, room temperature water will remain liquid longer
 
For the record, under certain circumstances hot water does in fact freeze more quickly than cold water. It's called the Mpemba effect, and adding hot water to your freezing chicken waterer will probably trigger it. You may be able to get around this by heating the water receptacle (running it under hot water for instance) and then filling it, and taking it out to cool more slowly. An open container will freeze much more quickly than the traditional gravity fed water containers due to evaporation. Placing it in direct sunlight and painting it black can also help prevent freezing.

But putting warm or hot water in a cold water receptacle and then placing it out in freezing or sub freezing temperatures will almost certainly cause it to freeze more quickly.
 
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Check out some of these for heating water with solar, My DM uses something similar to heat her pool in NM. You may be able to use a closed loop with glycol (food Grade) and run a section of tubing through the water pan to keep it warm.



If link does not work check Youtube, solar water heaters.

This can be done without electricity, convection will do the circulation for you.
 
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