Keeping water barrels ice free

[DaFlockinLeader]

What about the hog nipple freezing?

 

[greybeard]

http://kellnsolar.com/products/n?n=48
http://kellnsolar.com/products/n?n=47

 

[DaFlockinLeader]

http://kellnsolar.com/products/n?n=48
http://kellnsolar.com/products/n?n=47

I wish but I don't have a grand to spend on waterers lol

 

[Mikethepigman]

Ok @Latestarter , but now lets say there is no power and you can't run a heater.... Now what?? Of course I've kicked the idea of metal barrels for the water and welding a pipe inside so I could make a little fire in the middle. Or with a metal barrel i could always make a little fire under or around. Another option for heat, is solar heat. I've seen dozens of videos on YouTube for free heat. Basically just making a box and putting soda or beer cans end to end and painting black. With a clear top or front so the sun can heat the cans. In theory it works, I know I've got three 4'x4' windows in my one shed barn and I'm going to build one and set in the windows for heat. Also there's videos on making a small wood burner and make a coil outta copper to place inside of smoke stack. The one I seen had a water heater with water and the fire heated the water and was filling the water up. This was all done with no power. With cold temps just around 0 frozen water is problem. Over the past days I've been searching for a way to keep my pig water nipples from freezing on YouTube, havent found anything yet that don't have power.... however for cattle or horses I seen a guy take a 2 liter bottle and put slat and water in it and left air in bottle, then just put in water trough. The animals push the bottle down and get water, plus makes it easier to break out ice.

 

[samssimonsays]

I just bought extra buckets for water and we have decided to switch to 5 gallon Pails for the goats and switch them out twice- 3 times a day but we are predicted to get -25* weather tonight and even with a heated barn it is hard to keep the temp above freezing let alone zero unless it is insulated like a house. Nothing seems to be working in these temps for us. Sigh. I'd be interested to know how others manage to keep things from freezing over.

 

[Latestarter]

OK, sorry @Mikethepigman I really don't know... I guess you could try just about any of what you mentioned and see what if anything works. I mean a solar still would work... IF there's sun, and then primarily only during the day... You could spend a grand on solar panels and batteries with an inverter... As for free, yeah, you could also build some sort of wood fired furnace to keep the water warm... You could also just haul buckets of water out there two or three times a day.

I used the submersible heaters in my 5 gallon waterers with horizontal nipples for my chickens and the nipples did get ice at 15 below overnight, but in the morning, heat from my fingers would melt the iced over nipple and it would remain functional throughout the day. The chickens didn't drink at night, so no biggie and I had to go out and feed them every morning anyway, so unfreezing the nipples became part of the routine. I have no experience with hog nipples...

 

[NH homesteader]

Everyone around here uses rubber dishes in winter. We use them year round. Even the people who have their pigs trained to a nipper waterer ditch it in winter. I just bring them water 2-3 times/day. I do the same with all my animals.

 

[Sumi]

Someone posted this on SufficientSelf the other day:

And btw, your hand warmer idea is a good one. Don't knock how much heat it can produce. There are people here that will take a small tupperware and put a handwarmer in it, and then put it in the bucket of water for a horse. The action of the floating bottle helps keep the water moving, and the hand warmer puts off just a bit of heat to help keep it from freezing. Of course, you have to have a horse that won't eat the bottle to do it with, but it does help.