Water in cold weather

[swift4me]

I finished the coop, but we've still got two months with potential freeing weather. Not like Michigan or Alaska, but it might be a low of 24 or 25 degrees with a high of 35 for a few days. The water I keep in a bathtub for the horse and donkeys has frozen before, so my concern is for the chicken waterer.

I have no power to the coop, and the waterer is 15 liters. I leave the farm on weekends for up to three days, and want to know how long a chicken can go without water, or if anyone has any other ideas.

I have a neighbor who can stop by and check if the weather is cold, but would rather not bother him with my chickens.

Thanks for any ideas.

Pete

 

[chuckzoo]

I short answer is; Chickens can not go without water.

You need to try and insulate the waterer or have someone check on them early every morning to ensure the can drink.

 

[swift4me]

Thanks for the answer. Now can anyone tell me if insulating the top portion of a waterer wil keep the bottom part from freezing up?

The shame is that I have a year round spring that feeds our house and the overflow pipe that runs to a bathtub in the prairie for the horse is only about ten feet from the coop. Running a pipe and getting it through two feet of stone walls would be the problem, but I wouldn't be worrying about freezing.

Thanks,

Pete

 

[AnnainMD]

We ran on outdoor extension cord about 100' from the house to the coop to a submergible de-icer and it works beautifully.

 

[swift4me]

Thanks for the tip,

Pete

 

[Judy]

I'd be thinking seriously about moving the coop, I suspect.

 

[Mattemma]

My house hen drinks often. I think I read chickens drink often. If you don't want the neighbor giving water then I think a heated water is an option. I am always home so I take out warm water 2 times a day.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

We insulated the waterer with that shiny bubble insulation. It extended the "freeze time" out a few hours. Not a lot. Plus the chickens found it incredibly fascinating to peck at and then they discovered that it was edible (everything is edible to a chicken). Here's a picture of it, we also did the bottom of the tray, too.

We have also run an extension cord out to the coop to a heated water base. Now that works! I have a big enough waterer that 32 chickens can drink for 2 days on it, but that's it.

So if you're going to be gone 3 days, I'd suggest the heated water base with an extension cord and a big enough waterer to last that length of time. Or have someone come to your house to change the water daily.

 

[teach1rusl]

Is the coop close enough to the house to run a long outdoor rated extension cord for the waterer just on weekends??? That or have the neighbor stop by once a day to put out warm water. Going days without access to water would be torturous...

 

[swift4me]

Heres the coop, so moving it isn't really an option....

but I think you've answered the question. I had chickens last year, until a beech marten killed most of them, and my waterer worked great. Re-roofing the stone building and building a more marten-proof run, among other projects has taken a long time. I only had 9 birds and it doesn't get super hot here, so even after 3 days, their water was fine. I'm putting off getting my new birds until after the threat of freezes.

But you all got me thinking about a heater. Since I have a neverending supply of springwater, I'm also thinking of routing a hose into the coop and having a circulating supply. I'm trying to figure out the part about keeping it clean.

Thanks for all the help.

Pete