Hello to pond dwellers! 
I am new here, and maybe a bit younger than the majority, but I dont mind. I have always gotten along best with older generations anyway. We have had 20°F or colder weather here recently, kind of normal for our winters. I am just glad the wind isn't as bad as last year, it literally blew the siding off our house!
Story:
I tried a homemade insulated chicken waterer after watching a YouTube about it, in fall I dug a 6inch wide 3.5 ft deep hole in their coop, then made a ledge layers with large sticks and packed into mud. I put 2 old cookie tins stacked on top of eachother set into the ground. Then the chicken water container can sit in the top tin (left open) and the bottom tin can have coals put in if needed. The idea is that the open hole underneath is supposed to provide some geothermal heat. The vide i saw he dug it 6ft down, but I dont have the tools for that, or a winter cold enough to justify it! Have been waiting for the cold to really hit to test it.
The weather turned, and I am not disappointed! The water has only had a very thin layer of ice after our coldest nights, and that was without the coals! (For context the insulated dog bowls on the porch were frozen solid) I think unless we get an unexpectedly cold winter (which we may actually) I wont even use the coals function. Has anyone else tried something like this? Your experience? Hopefully this is talk appropriate to "the pond".
I am new here, and maybe a bit younger than the majority, but I dont mind. I have always gotten along best with older generations anyway. We have had 20°F or colder weather here recently, kind of normal for our winters. I am just glad the wind isn't as bad as last year, it literally blew the siding off our house!
Story:
I tried a homemade insulated chicken waterer after watching a YouTube about it, in fall I dug a 6inch wide 3.5 ft deep hole in their coop, then made a ledge layers with large sticks and packed into mud. I put 2 old cookie tins stacked on top of eachother set into the ground. Then the chicken water container can sit in the top tin (left open) and the bottom tin can have coals put in if needed. The idea is that the open hole underneath is supposed to provide some geothermal heat. The vide i saw he dug it 6ft down, but I dont have the tools for that, or a winter cold enough to justify it! Have been waiting for the cold to really hit to test it.
The weather turned, and I am not disappointed! The water has only had a very thin layer of ice after our coldest nights, and that was without the coals! (For context the insulated dog bowls on the porch were frozen solid) I think unless we get an unexpectedly cold winter (which we may actually) I wont even use the coals function. Has anyone else tried something like this? Your experience? Hopefully this is talk appropriate to "the pond".
