Who waters with snow?

[loverOFchickens]

I don't do it fully but as a half and half occasionally saves on the load.
Of course I do it in 2 separate containers.

I wondered if anyone else does this?

 

[Wildsky]

You mean giving the chickens snow instead of water to drink?

No - I give mine water, they do peck at the snow and the ducks like to eat ice it seems, but I do make sure they always have water.

I did a little experiment with my kids, a full cup of snow and melted it - we were left with very little water, perhaps a mouthful for us.. I would think the chickens couldn't eat enough to get enough water, and it would bring down their body temp making it harder to keep themselves warm.

 

[Marlinchaser]

Eating snow is not the same as giving an animal water, the effect of eating the snow will make the body work harder to keep temperature where it should be making it necessary to eat more snow in order to stay hydrated, and since often water is drank to wash down food, its hard to wash down food with snow. If using snow to hydrate while camping/hiking it is recommended that it be melted prior to consumption, so I would think it would have the same effect on chickens.

 

[FarmerChick]

Fill 1/2 bucket with water and then melt the rest with snow. Yes it makes the load lighter to carry 1/2 bucket of water instead of a full one..LOL

I used to do this with my dogs when I lived up north. Bring 1/2 bowl of water out and then dump tons of snow into it and let it melt and it would then be full for him to drink.

is that what you mean..LOL

 

[usschicago1]

Half and half isnt bad. NEVER DO IT ALL SNOW. Thats just lazy

 

[fiberart57]

My neighbor went away for a couple of days and his chickens' water froze solid. I took a jug of liquid water over there and filled up their bowl. Despite the fact that there's about a foot of soft snow, the girls ran to the bowl and drank and drank and drank. Snow is not adequate hydration. Water is best.

 

[Plain Old Dee]

We don't get a lot of snow in Oklahoma...normally. We just got buried in the stuff Christmas Eve. Even so, we give our hens - and even our goats - warm water to drink 2-3 times a day. The warm water seems to help them stay warmer and better hydrated. DH and I don't have electric lines run to the henhouse, so we don't have heated waterers. However, it's not that hard to carry a gallon bucket of warm water down when we check for eggs. We are checking multiple times a day right now because it's so blinking cold - we don't want frozen eggs...

 

[Akane]

Dumping lots of snow in a half full container will not give you a full container. Even if you pack it all down and make it several inches higher than the container. It does not melt down to a full container of any kind. Even solidly frozen ice with no gaps which is far more packed than you can get snow still does not fill a container when it melts. Water expands when frozen so it's just plain impossible. That means your animals are not getting as much water unless you make sure they don't run out between times of filling. I would also not give snow in an unheated container so it remains snow. Eating it will lower body temperature and take energy to melt versus having it already melted. Not helpful when they are already having trouble heating themselves.I do occasionally put snow in the heated bucket if it isn't low enough to need refilled but I'm out there anyway. It just extends how long the water lasts.

 

[cluckcluck42]

My girls love to eat snow off my boots and peck at it from the safety of the coop door. I bring them out warm water 2-3 times a day. Sometimes I put a shovelful of snow in the coop to let them play with it on cold days and they go nuts for it. Animals or humans cannot get sufficient water from snow, it also takes a lot of body heat.

 

[loverOFchickens]

Quote:
Ya that is kinda what I do. They just like playing with it. They always have regular water too.
It's just another toy for the boring winter days. I don't want the hens to get chicken coop fever.