frozen water

[KazzaL]

my chickens have a normal water container where a certain amount of water drains into the rim and the rest stays in the reservoir bucket about...... sorry for my rubbish description, but i;m sure you all now what I mean.

anyway every day with the cold weather the water has been freezing up and now back at work after Xmas break, I'm worrying the chickens will get thirsty.

Tried bubble wrap round the reservoir, but it didn't work to stop the water freezing - any suggestions?

thanks

[NutterlyUts]

Mine has only been freezing first thing in the morning, so I don't know what to suggest.. Could you move it into the house? Or a small bit of me is thinking you can buy water heaters?

[DaisyMooSteiner]

I'd take a kettle of hot water down every morning when you let them out and pour it into and over the drinker to melt it.

[Minniethemoocher]

Apparently, hot water freezes quicker than cold, it is known as the ?Mpemba Effect?.

[FleurDelacour]

Sad I know but I put a hot water bottle in next to my hen's water in the hen house. I worried they'd peck at it but they don't. It keeps the water unfrozen all night.

[ChopsTheDuck]

put a tennis ball in the reservoir.

[gatleygirl]

we went away over new year (for 1 night) and left a steep sided dog bowl full of water actually in the coop under the roosting bars - too steep sided for them to knock over and it didn't freeze, unlike the galvanised dribker that we left in their run. If they got desperate for water we thought they may have the wit to work out what it was!

[StripeyKnickersSpottySocks]

Put ribena in with the water. Or glycerine.

[BCNS]

agree with chops.. we have a ball in the water

[YouLukaBeautiful]

Agree also, a pingpong ball or two is good

[MarmadukeScarlet]

I have a galvanised drinker and a plastic one. I take hot wter (and I do know about the whatsit effect) and pour a bit into the lip of both drinkers to defrost the rim. I then pur some cold into the jug of hot to make it drinkable and leave that up there.

Balls in the rervoir wouldn't stop the rim freezing though, tis what I use in my horse trough, but that is still freezing up at night.

My chook house not big enough to put water in, roosting bars over whole area and they would just crap in it.

LOL at hotwater bottle inhen house.