An easy way to keep water from freezing in the drinker (no electricity needed)
Freezing water in the drinker is one of the biggest problems when raising chickens during winter. If you have electricity in your chicken coop, the easiest way is to use a water heater in a dog's bowl. These heaters are easy to use and easy to recharge and clean. With their help, you can quickly and safely heat water to a temperature above zero. It is a little more difficult if there is no electricity in the chicken coop. But I will tell you how easy it is to keep the water frost-free using only a rubber bath and an old tire. Don't believe me? But it's true!
For my chickens and ducks, I use large rubber baths all year round, as ducks have a habit of emptying the drinkers in an instant. In addition, ducks need a deep source of water in which they can dip their heads. All these conditions are ideally matched by rubber baths. When we lived in warm Virginia, it was quite enough to fill the bathtub with water in winter and put it in the sun so that it would not freeze. But now that we have moved to Maine, where temperatures can be freezing or colder for weeks in winter, I must find a way to keep the water in the coop from freezing. Read:do-it-yourself drinking bowl for chickens with a photo!
How to make a drinker from an old car tire
Another tip: dip some table tennis balls into the bathtub. Even the slightest breeze will sway the balls, creating small waves on the surface that will prevent ice formation.
Fill the inside of the tire with styrofoam, stuffing balls or other insulation materials.
Add some wood waste, bricks, or paving stones to the center (or more packing material) to lift the rubber tub slightly off the ground.
Place the tub in the middle of the tire and place it in the sun.
Fill the tub with water.
Now your water will not freeze!
It is convenient even for small chickens to drink from such a drinking bowl, and sometimes climb onto the tire.
The ducks love the new drinker.
If you are worried about water collecting inside the tire, use a long nail and a hammer or drill to drill a few holes in the bottom of the tire before using the drinker.
During the two weeks I used my device, the weather was not at all conducive to experiencing it enough.However, on one particularly cold day, the water in this drinker remained unfrozen, while ice crystals formed in an ordinary rubber bath. I didn’t drain my new drinking bowl overnight, and by morning it was not frozen, although the temperature dropped below freezing at night.
An additional advantage of such a drinker is that it is more difficult for ducks to muddy the water in it and it is inconvenient for them to jump into the tub to swim.