Winter watering solution?

[morelcabin]

I am just not looking forward to cleaning chicken bowls in my kitchen sink...I think I might get grossed out and end up ditching the birds for the winter.

 

[wyliefarms]

Our garage is heated and there is a sink out there. So chicken bowls don't come in the house

Putting a heat lamp on the waterer would work too.

Where are you located? How cold does it get there?

Don't give up on your faithful productive ladies!

 

[morelcabin]

Northern Ontario...This coming winter is supposed to be bitter cold...-40 temps often and alot of snow...according to farmers almanac. We didn't even have a summer this year! You all know that it is global cooling now huh? No more global warming that trend is over for about 20 years now...

 

[Akane]

I go with the black rubber feeders. You can get all sorts of sizes at any feedstore. If you put them in the sun they stay thawed a little longer. Hot water actually freezes as fast as cold water. Did that experiment in science class. The greater the temp different the faster it loses heat so it equalizes by the time you reach freezing point.

When they finally do freeze just pop the ice out and refill. Nothing should be left to clean out of the waterer. It all freezes together so you have a clean container aside from maybe a little frost along the sides.

 

[foxcrossing26]

Well, here is my idea for a non-electric way to heat my chickens' water this winter. At a flea market this weekend, I bought a flat-bottomed metal bowl with bakelite handles. It's about 6" across the bottom. My plan is to keep it inside at night (because chickens dont drink when they're sleeping). Each morning, I'll fill it with hot water and take it outside. When it's cold, we'll have the wood stove going, and I'll keep a few of those decorative 4" river rocks on top of the stove, heating up. When I go out to visit my girls (which I do several times a day, just cause I love them!), I'll take two hot rocks and put them in the bottom of the metal bowl to keep the water thawed. I'll take the cooled rocks back inside and reheat them. (We have a soapstone stove, so the wet rocks wont damage the finish.)

So that's the plan -- I'll let you know if it actually works!

 

[al6517]

I use these cords that plug in, they are regulated by temp so only keep the temp just above freezing. There for wrapping pipes in the winter, they have a small light on the end so you know it's working, I just wrap them around the galvanized 5 gal waterers and keep them plugged in at all times, these are very simple, inexpensive, and use very little tricity. you can buy them at any hardware store and come in different lenghts, they work like a dream, nice and easy.

 

[ChickaD]

Neat ideas!
Winter tests us, and sometimes I forget to study!

al6517, what are those nifty things called, or should I just print out your post and hand it to the hardware store person?

 

[silkiechicken]

If the bowls are on the ground, they do get dirty, but I have them sitting up on a wire crate thing so the edges of the bowl are back level and they don't get dirt into it. Acutally, if it freezes, sometimes there are intersting things frozen to the bottom of the ice chunk you get to throw into the air and watch crash onto the ground below. It really is theraputic.

 

[peapickinchicks]

I used one of those candle warmers, you know the ones you can buy at wal-mart that plug in and it's just a base to sit your candles on that are in glass or crockery etc. to melt.
You can use those ones that keep your hot drinks warm too. It worked like a charm on my dogs bowl never failed.

 

[M@M@2four]

Thank goodness for DH. We converted an old pole barn into a full blown coop. My DH just ran pipes and installed a small hot water heater. H ejust put in a double wash sink. It's wonderful!