Winter waterer without electricity no freezing

[Unswydd]

"I live in northern Sweden and we have some very harsh winters here.
i have 17 chicken which are thirsty even if it's -30°C cold.... My design works really well, is inexpensive and easy-build.
It prevents the water from freezing until -10°C without any heating source but all temperatures below that you'll have to start the heater." https://www.instructables.com/isolated-watering-place-for-chicken/

This is spray foam insulation between a fountain waterer and a bucket placed upside down over the fountain. Pretty good explanations and pictures.

This really is a good idea. I get it! I'm in Central Illinois and it may get below zero wind chill but not that often actual temps. I am going to try this for sure!

 

[Ponypoor]

There is almost always snow. But, I never thought of it as a back up.

My horses have water heater but I throw hay on top of the snow, as they eat the hay they are also picking up snow and getting moisture. Not much but it helps.

My chickies stay in the barn all winter, luckily I have power there so a heated waterer is on tap for me.

Yes -10C is ok, and my chooks are fine till lower than that. Lower than -10C and they start huddling for warmth.

Run yourself some power cable to your run, you won’t regret it! And your chooks will love you for it

 

[Ponypoor]

The problem is that batteries can't sit outside when it gets really cold.

And there is so little solar gain from solar panels in the winter.

I know batteries are getting better.....

Yea you are correct. I froze my truck battery last week - rookie mistake… then hit -40C.


Get yourself some electric conduit and run to the pen, put a plug on either end and use GFI just in case! I used some extra heavy duty conduit and put a double plug in on the one end. Just make sure you use a GFI.

Good luck!

 

[Ponypoor]

Starting a fire? Wow! Maybe tha composting is more of an option than I thought; I'll come back to it.

My current waterer is a 3 quart, vacuum sealed ice bucket, 7" outside diameter, 6" inside diameter, 7" outside height. It is set on cement blocks to raise it 8" above the floor. That puts the bottom of the bucket a little below the top of the bedding.

Alternative waterer is black rubber dish very roughly the same diameter and shorter. It should work the same in the following with a few tweaks; I'll work through those tweaks later.

If I replace the cement blocks with a water reservoir and surround both with insulation...

Uline plastic pail options are 1, 2, 3.5, 5, 6, and 7 gallons

1 gallon is 7.65" outside diameter at the top, 7.04" inside diameter at the top, 6.20" OD at the bottom, and 7.59" tall without a lid. Too small.

2 gallon is 10" at the top, 8.36" at the bottom, 9.25" tall without a lid.

The rest are 11-12" diameter at the top, 10.42" at the bottom - big enough to nest the ice bucket inside with some insulation around it.

3.5 gallon is 11" high w/o lid
5 gallon is 14.5" high w/o lid
6 gallon is 16.75" high w/o lid
7 gallon is 19.62" high w/o lid

6 gallon looks promising - nesting the ice bucket (or rubber dish) so the rims are about even leaves about 10" for a water reservoir of about 3 gallons (more for the rubber dish) And will get the top of the waterer to about what it is now... which works well.

If I sacrifice two 6 gallon pails from other purposes, I can switch the pails instead of containers inside a bucket... possibly easier, certainly the most capacity. This option would need something to rest the ice bucket on. Also, it would need insulation between the sides of ice bucket and sides of the pails. Also, it would need insulation around the outside of the pail at least below the level of the ice bucket.

To rest the ice bucket on: Pvc legs? That would need something to hold them in place, maybe something to separate the insulation around the ice bucket from the reservoir. A partial lid would help.

So far, it seems promising.

Ok so try this:

Make an insulated wood box with a couple inches of foam or roxol (make sure chickens can’t get at it) almost the height of your water bucket, then place a silver bubble wrap insulation layer, put a cloth on this, heat up a couple of bricks in your wood stove (pavers, not the kind you build with they can explode) oh sorry make sure you take into account the height of the bricks in the box.

Put the hot bricks in the box, place a thick towel ontop, and then put the bucket inside this handy dandy heater unit.

Your welcome….

 

[saysfaa]

Ok so try this:

Make an insulated wood box with a couple inches of foam or roxol (make sure chickens can’t get at it) almost the height of your water bucket, then place a silver bubble wrap insulation layer, put a cloth on this, heat up a couple of bricks in your wood stove (pavers, not the kind you build with they can explode) oh sorry make sure you take into account the height of the bricks in the box.

Put the hot bricks in the box, place a thick towel ontop, and then put the bucket inside this handy dandy heater unit.

Your welcome….

The insulation for sure.

As for the pavers, water holds heat better if you can solve the problem of its change in volume as it changes temperatures.

Soapstone does better than other masonry if you can salvage some so the cost isn't so much of a problem. Some online places sell broken pieces for semi reasonable prices if you live close enough to them that shipping isn't a problem.