[harry]

ime now going to try  a parifin heater single wick type for greenhouses (ebay item 110362097334) going to surrond it with bricks inside the shed and place a galvanised drinker on top. i got it for £1 at car boot sale i was going to use it for a chick brooder in the chick shed. it claims 14 days one fill up.

[cmorrell]

I used to have that very model from B&Q, probably mid-90s, rusted away now but was great while I had it. 14 days is possible if you keep the wick really short, but that may not generate quite enough heat for your needs.

[harry]

i will turn it up a bit for 10 days, that will be better than trying to use drinkers full of solid ice

[garrybaldi]

I think I'm going mad as I'm sure I read somewhere recently about a 'tonic' that you can add to chickens water that helps it stops freezing and is also good for them - can't for the life of me remember where I read it though! Wish I could as I'm having to deal with frozen water every mornning.

[KevCollins]

I have read elsewhere that a small amount of glycerine (available at chemists or the home baking section at the supermarket) added to the water stops it from freezing.

[Womble]

Hmmm, might be worth a try.

If we're going down that route though, a 10% concentration of ethanol in water is good down to -4degC. By my calculations then, this would be equivalent to a mixture of roughly four parts water to six parts of Harvey's Bristol Cream  .

Guaranteed to give your hens a Merry Christmas!!  .

[doganjo]

I added wine vinegar and it seems to work.  Also giving them citricidal so maybe it's that that stops it freezing.  Fr&^ging cold here in Clacks today and my bl88dy car wouldn't start1  Off to check the charge now

[CameronS]

You could try placing the drinker full of luke warm water ontop of a terracotta plant pot, which covers 3 - 4 tealights. it saves having to fight through the late shoppers and weather to get to the chemist

[doganjo]

You could try placing the drinker full of luke warm water ontop of a terracotta plant pot, which covers 3 - 4 tealights. it saves having to fight through the late shoppers and weather to get to the chemist

Brilliant idea, CAmeron.  I can do that - got loads of tea lights and just need to turf a half dead plant out of it's pot.

[Womble]

I added wine vinegar and it seems to work. 

This one seemed too good to be true, so I ran a controlled experiment - two tin cans, one just tap water, and the other about 10% cider vinegar.

The experiment was slightly ruined by a light covering of snow  , but the vinegar can did seem to take a bit longer to freeze than the other one. However, it did eventually freeze solid, and is still like that, despite having spent all day sitting on the porch windowsill!

When it eventually thaws, I'll try again and see if I can get some more conclusive results.

By the way, I have insulated our chicken coop a wee bit by pinning a layer of dense foam packing material around the inside of the walls and ceiling. Stuck my hand in there just now, and it definitely seems to be warmer inside than it was last night. Could be worth a thought if this cold snap continues. If you don't have any suitable foam to hand (be careful it's stuff that they can't peck bits off and eat), then I reckon a layer of corrugated cardboard would be almost as good. Poor wee things - they don't know what to make of all this white stuff!!

[doganjo]

Roxy said

I put glycerine in the feeders, or white wine vinegar is good too.

[garywwess]

10%  .. it may not freeze.. but you will have a job getting the chooks to drink it..  i normally use it at a ratio of 2 tablespoons to 3 litres ..
gary

[Canadian Sheepfarmer]

Our 6 egglaying birds, [we have meat birds in the summer but they are all long gone to the big freezer by now], eat/drink snow in the winter. We put a fresh bowl in each day and they prefer it to water once they are used to it. Put in a bowl of each side by side and they take the snow every time.

We feed them cut up lumps of animal fat each day left over from various butcherings. They love this and it helps to keep them warm.

[Womble]

10%  .. it may not freeze..

Exactly, but since even that froze very quickly......

[northfifeduckling]

I'll try the glycerine tomorrow, tired of running out with hot water 5 times a day!
I feel so sorry for my poor ducks, just sitting there and shivering...at least they are eating! I wondered if fat was good, thanks!, as we do feed the wild birds fat as well.