Water freezing

[kingc33]

hello everyone!
I live in ohio and it is already getting very cold. This will be my first winter raising chickens. Their water is already freezing. Any tips/tricks to keep this from happening?!

 

[N F C]

There are a lot of posts about water in winter, you can find them using the Search feature. Here are the results I got when doing a quick search for "water in winter":
search

Our winters up here in WY can get pretty cold. I use a Farm Innovator heated waterer:
farm-innovators-all-seasons-heated-plastic-poultry-fountain-3-gal-model-hpf-100-100-watt.11363
It doesn't have the best of ratings but is all that was available at our farm stores. So far, it has worked just fine.

In case there's a malfunction with that waterer, I got a back-up heated pet bowl from Amazon (K&H Thermal Bowl 96 oz.).

There are a lot of options for keeping the water from freezing and what works for me, might not for you. You might want to ask other members on your state thread to see what they like:
ohio-come-on-buckeyes-let-me-know-your-out-there.12049

 

[halfpintlc]

We were having the same problem. The temp dropped to -5 to -9C and I was switching out and bringing the waterer inside to thaw. Finally decided to try putting a plastic bottle (750ml gatorade) filled with salt water into the waterer. It hasn't frozen since. Not even a thin layer of ice on the top. It actually melted what ice was left in the bucket. I know there are mixed reviews on this, some have said it doesn't work, but, so far, it is working well for us. We don't want to have to run electricity to the coop so it seems like a good alternative...so far. I used 1/4 cup of salt then filled bottle with water (warm to help salt dissolve), lid on and popped it in, just floats around.

 

[wamtazlady]

I live in northern Montana so deal with cold every winter. My waterer is a 10 gallon semi clear tote with lid, horizontal nipples, and a stock tank heater that is rated to use in plastic. Water stayed thawed last winter down to -22 F. Best part is I only need to fill it once a week. Bought tote at Walmart, horizontal nipples from Amazon, stock tank heater from the local feed store.