[Eve]

Just wondering what you're all doing in this weather to make sure your chickens have fresh water at all times - apart from replacing the ice with water every morning. 

There's a liquid called "No Ice" but it costs a fortune since the £5 bottle won't even last a week, and there's glycerine which we've also tried. But I just found a posting on the internet of someone claiming they put a little bit of vodka in the water. Were they joking?    Am having visions of our cockerels crowing whilst drunk... they're bad enough when sober! 

[Dizzycow]

In my header tab it reads 'Ways to stop drinking water.' I agree. Wine is the answer.

[deepinthewoods]

recently there was a thread called winter tips i think, glycerine.

[Eve]

Saw the winter tips topic, tried glycerine - thick, gloopy stuff that doesn't want to come out of the bottle. 

According to hubby, the alcohol content would need to be very high in order to stop the water from freezing, so still expensive - and he enjoys his drinks too much to share it with chickens. Though we do have that bottled apple juice that was forgotten about and fermented... 

No electrical connection to the run so no heatpad or anything.  

[Bramblecot]

I have read that cider vinegar helps - but I can't see it would make much difference in these extreme conditions.  So here we go with the bucket run again...

[ellied]

Mine don't have water in the coop so I just take the water in at night and refill it, that or I pick ice rings out in the morning to get the top to come off  

[Eve]

Taking the water in at night might be the only solution, I could leave a little drinker with that "No ice" stuff out for the night and take the big drinkers in. Was worried about them going to bed by 5pm and not having anything to drink for 15 hours until we're up again in the morning to replace the ice with water, so have been leaving water out in the run but it freezes into one solid block.   

[manian]

definitely interested in this post.... ours is freezing during the daytime

[DJ_Chook]

I empty all the water points at night but in these freezing daytime conditions the fresh water is freezing up within a couple of hours. I've been gradually increasing the amount of glycerine I add to see how much is needed. So far I am at 2 blob table spoon per 5 litres. I'm not actually giving this mixture to my girls, I'm leaving it out overnight to see if it doesn't freeze... it still freezes.  I work from home so I am here all day to constantly refresh their water. Does this glycerine thing actually work? Mind you it was -13 cels here last night.

[jaykay]

Mine don't have water in their coops, they never have and they seem ok with that. I am just replacing the water often, it's freezing during the day too at the moment too.

[darkbrowneggs]

Years ago when I used to have to spend hours standing in cold sheds at auctions I had a heat pad (must look it out) I think you put it in boiling water to change the crystalline structure, then took it with you and when you wanted a warm you bent it which caused some chemical reaction which gave of warmth for quite a while

Anyone know what they are called?  That might be a solution, one activated and dropped in a bucket of drinking water

[Eve]

A warming pad - like what we can use for our hands in our coat pockets but bigger?

Just looked at that little bottle of "No Ice" that is supposed to keep water from freezing: it was left outside and has frozen solid!      and it was only minus 8C here last night!

I know birds in the wild don't have any water to drink either in this weather, but ours are really thirsty every morning, and I like to give them a better chance than what they would have in the wild 

Wonder what they do in Canada? Heated coops?


Update: have posted the question on a Canadian forum, let's see what they come back with.

[CameronS]

Thankfully i havn't had to use it this year, but what i do

is set a terracotta (upturned) plant pot to straddle two thin pieces of wood, raising it about 1 inch off the floor,  and under this lighting a large or two large candles, and setting ontop of the plant pot a metal/porcaline bowl keeps the water luke warm if you fill the bowl with warm water to start with.

[doganjo]

Mine don't have water in their shed as they just go up and roost, rarely see them on the ground.  I put ordinary cooking oil in the water every morning and it seems to be fine on all but the most extreme days

[jaykay]

My friends in Colorado, up in the mountains, have electricity to their coop. They have a drinking bowl with a low-level heater underneath and in really cold weather (ie the kids can't go outside or they'd get frostbite  ) they leave a heat lamp on in the coop.