Rick Kruszewski wrote:Just refill it every day
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Creighton Samuiels wrote:Has anyone tried floating bottles of peanut oil in the water? According to Google, peanut oil has a freezing point of 37 degrees; which should be just about perfect as a phase change material to keep water from freezing.
A build too cool to miss:Mike's GreenhouseA great example:Joseph's Garden
All the soil info you'll ever need:
Redhawk's excellent soil-building series
Trace Oswald wrote:
Creighton Samuiels wrote:Has anyone tried floating bottles of peanut oil in the water? According to Google, peanut oil has a freezing point of 37 degrees; which should be just about perfect as a phase change material to keep water from freezing.
I don't understand how that would work?
Creighton Samuiels wrote:I live in Kentucky. It's normal to get a little below freezing overnight, with a daily high in the 30s. Hard freezes are rare, a couple of times each winter. I'm not trying to protect against those hard freezes, but against the regular overnight issues. 18 chickens.
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Mike Jay wrote:
Is freezing water a problem you've already encountered or are you just trying to be proactive? .
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Creighton Samuiels wrote:
Mike Jay wrote:
Is freezing water a problem you've already encountered or are you just trying to be proactive? .
A little overnight ice formation on the top around the rim, but mostly this is a proactive exercise for the deep winter. The Farmer's Almanac predicts a very cold winter in my region, and my experience is that they tend to be more correct than not.
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Cindy Skillman wrote:We’re in western SD. In the Black Hills. Our lows are usually (but not always) above zero—except for SOME years when all bets are off. I’m using a bucket deicer in a homemade nipple bucket with the horizontal nipples. It doesn’t generally take a lot of power so could possibly be supported by a solar panel & battery & DC converter or however that works. For me it’s easier to run a long outdoor cord from the house. If your coop is large enough, keeping the water inside it will help. The nipple bucket is easy to make. Get the horizontal nipples at your farm store or Amazon. Be sure to get a food-grade bucket with lid. Delis will sometimes give or sell them or they have them at TSC. I set mine up on pavers, but you can hang them of course. The advantage of this waterer is that since the water tends to freeze top down, the nipples stay surprisingly clear. The grown chickens peck at it pretty hard, dislodging any ice. With the bucket deicer, there’s none to dislodge, but even if there IS, if you’re not going to use power, this type waterer might help so long as it doesn’t get TOO cold. 30 Fahrenheit shouldn’t cause you any trouble.
If your coop has a dirt floor, consider using deep litter, which heats up once it starts composting. (Search it: there’s lots of chatter out there.) The trick is that it may not start composting in winter... too cold to get it going. Even if you have a wood floor or it’s already too cold, you can use deep bedding, which will add a bit of insulation. Straw is nice, since being hollow, it can modulate some degree of temperature variation. You wouldn’t need an awful lot to keep the inside temps above 32 when the typical low is around 30. Even if none of this works for you, with winters like you described, changing out the water as needed likely won’t be a huge chore.
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Mike Haasl wrote:I hope the birds don't peck at the insulation too much...
I made a heated waterer by getting a simple heated water bucket from Tractor Supply and adding "chicken nipples" to it and a wooden lid. That's worked for me down to -29F. I think you're a bit more remotely located so that may not with with your time crunch. I hope it works, good luck!
David Baillie wrote:Do the chicken nipples freeze? or drip? I tried the cups and the nipples but found the cups froze and the nipples leaked too much so I ended up with ice on the coop floor. The nearest TSC is 90 minutes away. There is no thermostat on this one so I'll have to just see how it does and maybe timer it if it gets too hot. The chickens will always peck the foam so I have to cover it with some plywood. The foil... I don't know I might have to shroud it in aluminum flashing.
Cheers, David
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