Freezing water in the water bowl is one of the biggest problems when breeding chickens in the winter. If you have electricity in the hen house, then the easiest way is to use a device to warm up the water in a dog bowl. These heaters are easy to use, easy to recharge and clean. With their help, you can quickly and safely warm the water to a temperature above zero. A little more difficult if there is no electricity in the henhouse. But I will tell you how easy it is to keep water freezing, using only a rubber bath and an old tire. Do not believe me? But it's true!
For my chickens and ducks, I use large rubber baths throughout the year, as ducks have a habit of emptying drinkers in an instant. In addition, the ducks need a deep source of water, in which they could douse their heads. All these conditions are perfectly matched by rubber baths. When we lived in warm Virginia, it was enough to fill the bath with water in the winter and put it in the sun, so it did not freeze. But now that we have moved to Maine, where the winter temperature can be within a few weeks Keep at zero or lower, I need to find a way that will help keep water in the coop from freezing.
How to make a drinker from an old car tire
It turns out that the drinking bowl can easily be made from an old car tire. All you need is simply to fill the internal space of the tire with foam, packing balls or other materials for thermal insulation. After that, install the tire in the sun, add some wood waste, bricks or pavers to the center (or more packaging material) to slightly lift the rubber bath from the ground - it should be level with the top part of the bus. Then put the bath in the tire and fill it with water. Using solar heat, which absorbs the black surface of the tire and bath, you can protect the water from freezing much longer than in a conventional rubber bath. And much longer than in a traditional drink, which has a smaller surface area.
And one more tip: put some balls into the tub for table tennis. Even from the slightest breeze, the balls will swing, creating on the surface small waves that will prevent the formation of ice.
Fill the inner space of the tire with foam, packing beads or other materials for thermal insulation.
Add some wood waste, bricks or pavers to the center (or more packaging material) to slightly raise the rubber bath from the ground.
Place the bath in the middle of the tire and place it in the sun.
Fill the tub with water.
Now your water will not freeze!
Even small chickens are convenient to drink from such a drinker, and sometimes climb onto the tire.
Ducks really like the new drinker.
If you are worried that water will collect inside the bus, then before you start using a few holes with a long nail and a hammer at the bottom of the tire, or drill.
During those two weeks, when I used my device, the weather did not help me to experience it sufficiently. However, on one of the particularly cold days, the water in this drinking bowl remained unfrozen, while in the usual rubber bath crystals of ice formed. I did not drain the water from my new drinker for the night, and it did not freeze to-morrow, although the temperature dropped below zero at night.
An additional advantage of such a drinker is that it is more difficult for ducks to muddy water in it and it is inconvenient for them to jump into the bath to swim.
