Winter Water Issues

[katee!!]

I only have three chickens but what I've been doing for the winter is using one of those plastic waterers made for chickens. Twice a day (morning and nite) I bring it in, empty it and fill it with hot water. I hang it inside the chicken barn in a well insulated (small) space. They do sometimes run to drink when I come in but their egg production has not suffered.

[Ricardo Blackardo]

Originally Posted by katee!!

I only have three chickens but what I've been doing for the winter is using one of those plastic waterers made for chickens. Twice a day (morning and nite) I bring it in, empty it and fill it with hot water. I hang it inside the chicken barn in a well insulated (small) space. They do sometimes run to drink when I come in but their egg production has not suffered.

It's a proven fact - hot water freezes faster than cool water when it's around 0 or below. I didn't believe it, so I did some tests, and it's true. Why put hot water out when all you're going to do is decrease the time they can drink out of it...

[Milk Made Farm]

Yes but the animals will drink more warm water than cold.

I use the black rubber pans because they are easy to get ice out of . I water a.m & p.m and have done it that way for years . Everyone does fine.


Patty

[UncleBuck]

Originally Posted by Milk Made Farm

Yes but the animals will drink more warm water than cold.

Patty

I agree, When my de-icer broke with the tank full, 100+ gal, I decided to wait for the 2 horses in that paddock to "drink it down" each morning and evenning feedings I would remove the layer of ice on the surface, it took 11 days( 6-7 days is normal) for them to empty the tank . After replacing the heater, which gets the water to 40+ F, it was back to normal.

[FF1809]

For our old chicken shed we used to have two medium size waterers that were placed on top of a layer of flat blocks with a heat lamp shining on them. The heat lamps were plugged directly into an outlet we mounted 4' up on the wall, and suspended by a small steel cable.
This worked well for us for years before we stoped raising chickens. Hope this info will help you some, Robbie

[hipbusybee]

Last winter, my friend asked me to care for her chickens during her absence. The water container was frozen solid! What to do!? IDEA!! I grabbed a plastic lid from their trash barrel and turned it upside down, to create a bowl. I filled the bowl with shovels of snow! They loved it! The next morning, they had pecked all the snow and the lid was completely empty! They LOVE snow! And, the snow stays flakey.....doesn't turn into a solid! eb

Originally Posted by Sugar Mountain

Greetings! I'm curious as to what other folks do in the winter to keep poultry watering areas from freezing. The only power I have in the barn is a deep cell battery hooked up to a solar panel, so I don't have nearly enough juice to power a heater. But I am wondering about an agitator, how much juice that draws and pros/cons. Any thoughts?