Winter watering with no electricity

[yellowchicks]

I have been searching for ways to prevent water from freezing in the winter without using electricity, since my coop has no power supply. Most of the winter watering ideas have been evolving around using an embedded light bulb, a heated dog bowl, heated bird feeder, aquarium heater, or pipe heating tape, etc., There were not much discussions on what to do if the coop has no power or get much sunlight. Some would suggest using an extension cord, but I have concern with safety, and digging through the tree roots to install an electrical conduit is out of the question as well.Perhaps manually lugging hot water multiple times a day to the coop is the only way, except my bad back won't quite survive such labor intensive task.

I then look for an insulated water bucket, but couldn't find one on the market, so I decide to make my own for this winter. The hope is that the water will not freeze as fast or as often during those super cold days. This insulated bucket feeder idea has never been tested, so I would love to have other people to try it to see if it works. Of course, this has to be the last resort if there is no electricity to warm the water feeder or you just need a way to save a few trips to lug the water through frigid weather.

The materials and construction are pretty straight forward as shown in the photos. This is basically a 2 gal. bucket inside a 5 gal bucket surround by insulation.

1. Cut two layers of 1" rigid insulation board to shape to line the bottom of the 5 gal bucket.
2. Remove the small bucket handle, put the smaller bucket inside the larger one.
3. Shim the sides using vertical strips of rigid foam board then fill the gap with spray insulation foam designed for big gaps.



4. While the spray foam is curing overnight, cut two more layers of rigid insulation foam, shape to fit the bucket caps as the top insulation cover.
5. Drill a 2" hole though both bucket caps and the top foam layers.



6. Assemble the PVC parts through the hole in the caps to be used as a water filling port.




7. Drill two (or how many you need) 11/32" holes about 1" above the bottom of the inner bucket. Insert a 3" segment of the 11/32" rigid tubing, then seal the seams with specialty silicon.
8. Trim off the excess tubing, insert the horizontal chicken nipples to the outside end of the tubing.



9. Wait for the silicon to fully cure before adding water to the bucket. It may take up to 2 weeks for curing depending on temperature.

To prevent the chickens from roosting on top of the bucket, put a cone on top. If black color buckets are available, use the darker colors ones to absorb more heat.

 

[Unitsi]

I, too, am seeking a way to keep water thawed for my chickens without using electricity. As with others, I am way too far from an outlet.

I have a 55 gallon plastic drum with a PVC pipe extended with drip nipples, which they have adapted to very well.

I was hoping someone had advice on a solar powered water heater that would keep the water from freezing.

I live in North Central Arkansas and as in most parts of the USA - a bad winter is expected this year (2014).

I do use those Heavy Duty Black Rubber Containers, it does freeze, but easy to twist and pop out the ice.

Or if anyone know a material to wrap the drum with to help keep water from freezing.

Thank you in advance - this site has always provided me with great guidance in the past.

 

[pawtraitart]

I, too, am seeking a way to keep water thawed for my chickens without using electricity. As with others, I am way too far from an outlet.

I have a 55 gallon plastic drum with a PVC pipe extended with drip nipples, which they have adapted to very well.

I was hoping someone had advice on a solar powered water heater that would keep the water from freezing.

I live in North Central Arkansas and as in most parts of the USA - a bad winter is expected this year (2014).

I do use those Heavy Duty Black Rubber Containers, it does freeze, but easy to twist and pop out the ice.

Or if anyone know a material to wrap the drum with to help keep water from freezing.

Thank you in advance - this site has always provided me with great guidance in the past.

You could make a passive solar heat panel out of tin cans if you're handy. Put your drum in an insulated box leaving a hole where a bird can access a single horizontal poultry nipple. I don't think extended pvc bars or vertical nipples will work with this project, but if you just have that one horizontal nipple (attached directly to the drum) exposed to freezing temps, it should work. Make the heater panel about the same size as the drum and orient it where it gets the most sun. Make your outflow go into the insulated box where the drum is located. You can find directions and options on youtube. Keyword: passive solar heat panel

 

[pawtraitart]

Oh...but check the temperature range when using a heat panel! Some versions/sizes will get too hot for the volume of water you're trying to keep warm.

 

[AlineD]

You could try a battery-operated aquarium heater, I think.

 

[ECBW]

Running extension cord for 200 ft is possible. The key is the load. As distance gets longer, there will be voltage drop and increase in resistance. The carrying capacity diminishes. So it becomes a function of demand and wire size.

If you need only 15W for CFL light and 60W for a water warmer (75W total), and you use OUTDOOR cords of 12AWG, you should have no problem.
You can use 14AWG cords at that consumption, or 12AWG for twice the load. The margin of safety will be less but still OK.

 

[Mrs. K]

I am partially solving this problem with a large 2.5 gallon black rubber bucket, often found in the horse department. I tried the verticle nipples first, as they were what I found first. However, they froze when the water in the bucket was still liquid. Today I am adding the horizontal nipples.

On sunny days, or even partial sunny days, the water remains liquid even at -9. Water freezes from the top down, so even if there is a solid 2 inches of ice on top, where the nipples are it is still liquid. In the morning, One can pour hot water on top of the ice, gather eggs and do other chores, and then knock or pull the ice out. Or use a hammer or a large rock to tap it into pieces. Hopefully the horizontal nipples will not freeze, but one will need to check them each day.

My plan is to keep clean water more often available. If the weather is predicted that I think that the bucket would freeze entirely I can empty the bucket at night, chickens don't drink at night, and add warm water in the morning. I am a bit worried that this won't work well on cold gloomy days, then I would be back to the small rubber bowls.

I am using a cast iron lid for my bucket as I had that and it fit.

Mrs K

 

[Mrs. K]

Put the horizontal nipples on, this morning, 17 degrees above, a small amount of ice on the top of the water, one horizontal nipple did stick a bit, but opened right up, the other had no problem, both vertical nipples were frozen.

This is working well for my small flock.

Mrs K

 

[JackE]

Running extension cord for 200 ft is possible. The key is the load. As distance gets longer, there will be voltage drop and increase in resistance. The carrying capacity diminishes. So it becomes a function of demand and wire size.

If you need only 15W for CFL light and 60W for a water warmer (75W total), and you use OUTDOOR cords of 12AWG, you should have no problem.


You can use 14AWG cords at that consumption, or 12AWG for twice the load. The margin of safety will be less but still OK.

Before I ran electric out to my coop, I used two connected 12AWG 100' extension cords to run power out to my water fount warmer. They were used all winter with absolutely no problem. They were covered with snow for weeks at a time. It's a heckova lot easier to run a couple of extension cords, than to be running water out to the coop a half a dozen times a day. That just doesn't make any sense to me. If the outlet you are plugged into is GFI protected, it is totally safe, also.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

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