Good ways to keep water from freezing without electricity

[Cluck17]

I know it’s a little early for winter but we all want summer forever, but I was wondering how to keep the water from freezing. I’m a first time chicken keeper so any thing more about winter you can tell me thanks!

 

[WhiteWyan]

I've seen some cool DIY buckets involving double layered buckets with foam insulation in between. But most likely you will just be replacing water often.
Someone suggested to me to spray cooking oil spray inside the water pans before filling with water so ice removes easier.

 

[HenHouse4Life]

If you have severely cold winters a heated water dish really comes in handy. You can also insulate as already suggested or change out water frequently

 

[Cryss]

I got my chickens as young pullets last November so we went directly into winter. Being new and exciting it wasn't terrible changing the water every hour to 2 hours. Kinda gave me an excuse to hang out with them...until 4 Nor'easters in a row hit us hard. I don't want electricity in the coop cuz I dont heat it. But dang! Knee deep snow every day with fingers freezing on metal locks can get old pretty darn fast. I just bought a heated waterer and a very VERY heavy duty extension cord. I'll be testing it out soon so I'm ready when temperatures drop.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I have a heated waterer in coop. But under the raised coop in freezing temps I use a rubber bowl. . Shown here after they finished wet mash.
It's tuff as nails. You can slam it to break the ice, and because it's rubber it will freeze slower than a metal pan. The bigger you get the longer before it freezes.
It comes in many sizes. This is the small one, less than $5. at TSC, two years ago. GC

 

[wamtazlady]

Those who do not have electricity to their coops may have to take out fresh water twice a day. Those rubbery type bowls are fairly easy to knock the ice out of them. Others have 2 waterers and swap them in and out every day.

Twice a day watering was more than I wanted. Ran a heavy duty extension cord so I could have heated water. At -22 F my girls had thawed water.

 

[Cryss]

Those who do not have electricity to their coops may have to take out fresh water twice a day. Those rubbery type bowls are fairly easy to knock the ice out of them. Others have 2 waterers and swap them in and out every day.

Twice a day watering was more than I wanted. Ran a heavy duty extension cord so I could have heated water. At -22 F my girls had thawed water.

Thats me. No power. I started out using the rubber bowl. It worked but got so dirty wih chicken poo and mud I switched to swaping out waterers, sometimes once every hour or 2 in the worst of the fridged weather. I can't face that again. This year I bought a heated waterer and a very strong extension cord. I'll be testing it out this week to make sure I'm ready for winter.

 

[Ridgerunner]

An advantage with those black rubber bowls is that if you happen to have sunshine and set them where sunshine hits them they will keep water thawed well below freezing. I know the sun does not shine at night and there are days there isn't any sun, but there can be lot of days it makes a lot of difference. It is usually not that hard to knock the ice out when it does freeze.

In summer I use white bowls in the shade to keep water cooler unless it is inside out of the sun..

 

[Tortoise]

Very new here and chickenless for now. Trying to learn all I can. Being in Chicago, I will have some very cold winter days. Has anyone tried using a fully submersible non glass aquarium heater in a bucket waterer?
Any reason it wouldn't work or why it shouldn't be used?
Other then it might be expensive on the electric bill.

 

[wamtazlady]

Very new here and chickenless for now. Trying to learn all I can. Being in Chicago, I will have some very cold winter days. Has anyone tried using a fully submersible non glass aquarium heater in a bucket waterer?
Any reason it wouldn't work or why it shouldn't be used?
Other then it might be expensive on the electric bill.

Yes, that is one way people keep their water from freezing. There is no reason you can't use one. The problem I see with aquarium heaters is that the water is kept much warmer than it needs to be. Then there is the electricity needed to keep the water warmer than needed. I use a stock tank deicer that is made to use outside, is rated to use in plastic, and keeps 10 gallons of water thawed. It turns on at 35 degrees and turns off at about 40- 45 degrees.

I'm not sure what an aquarium heater that would keep water thawed would cost. My stock tank deicer has been through 3 winters and cost $35. Has kept the water thawed down to -22 F.