Top Tips to Prevent Frozen Water for Animals

Frozen water Buckets!

 Frozen Buckets!!  You probably had to deal with frozen water for your livestock.  Frozen livestock water is the bane of almost all animal farmers. It doesn’t matter if its chickens or cattle, everyone deals with frozen water sometimes. There are hundreds of “tried and true ” ways to keep your animal water open. There are a lot of homemade DIYs, and some may work. Each farm is unique. This discussion of how to keep livestock waters open encompass the most successful ideas.   Let me know what works for you. I would love to see your ideas.

There are many types of electric heaters out on the market for every type of animal. These can range from being pretty inexpensive to very expensive. Some have many bells and whistles to ensure your water is open and animals are safe. The biggest drawback to electric waters is the need to have electricity run to where your water is needed. This can get complicated when you have multiple waters to keep open.

Electric Heaters

Most electric heaters will not melt ice but rather keep existing liquid water open. It is important to start using electric heaters when the water is still open and liquid.

Electric Cords

Running extension cords can be dangerous. Many cords are not rated for outdoors and wet areas. Animals can chew on the cords becoming a shock risk. Running multiple extension cords can put extra load on circuits. Always have an electrician look at your electricity to make sure your circuits can handle the extra load. This is also a wise idea to make sure there hasn’t been damage over the summer to the wires. Barn fires happen all the time, most are caused by electrical issues. If in doubt, consult an electrician. This extra step can save you thousands of dollars and a world of heartache.

Bucket Heaters

Bucket heaters and trough heaters are popular, pretty inexpensive and effective as long as the animals will leave them alone.   I had a horse that liked to play with the floating trough heater.  He would rip the heater out of the wall and play with it in the pasture. After breaking the heater a couple of times, we got a submersible trough heater. We also got a deeper trough and kept the water filled so he wouldn’t pull it out. What about the pipes?  Again, there are numerous ways to heat up pipes to keep them frost free. Wrap exposed pipes with insulation, rubber, or foam pipe covers. You can also use blankets, towels, or layers of newspaper.  Beware, if you are also using some electrical means of frost prevention make sure the cord is protected from animals and in good working order. 

Enclosed Pump and/or Tank

Enclose the pump and tank: Contact a licensed well contractor to help enclose your pump and tank. It’s really hard to pump water if you pump is frozen.  Winterizing the pump can prevent damage from the elements and ensure it is working all winter long.

Insulate

Insulate: Put a water bucket inside a larger bucket and fill the space with straw, hay, or shavings.  This is a good solution if you don’t have weeks and weeks of freezing temperatures. Insulated buckets are also a good choice but can be more expensive.  

Solar Power

Use solar power: Black buckets absorb the sun’s heat. You can cover part of a water trough with a solar cover. Snow cover can be an issue with using solar heat. This works best with a large trough of water that has access to the sun to warm it.  On the market now there are some solar powered trough heaters. 

Compost

Use compost: Pile compost around the buckets or troughs to use the heat from composting.  The main issue with this is keeping the compost out of the buckets so it doesn’t contaminate the water.

Freeze Miser

Use a Freeze Miser: This device helps keep water dripping as temperatures reach freezing levels.  Freeze Miser automatically adjusts the water’s flow rate to the water temperature. As a result, you don’t waste more water than necessary to prevent it from freezing.

Propane Heater

Use a propane heater: Propane heaters can keep water warm even if the electricity goes out. However, propane can be expensive and dangerous, so make sure to buy a heater with a good safety rating.  Propane heaters can be an issue when there is a lot of flammable debris around.

Constant Flow Water

Use a constant flow waterer: These can work well in temperatures well below zero Fahrenheit. If temperature remains low this watering system can have a heated component to make sure the water doesn’t freeze.

Manure

Use manure: Fill a tank with fresh manure and bank around the sides, leaving an area for drinking. This can work as the manure breaks down it will warm up the tank. This system has issues with animals being exposed to parasites. Manure can also be introduced to the water which leads to contamination.

Pop Bottles

Use pop bottles: Put pop bottles containing salt water into small tanks. The tanks can still freeze if the freezing temperatures remain low for an extended period of time.  

Nesting Tanks

Nest a smaller tank inside a larger one: Use bottom shims to bring the smaller rim above the larger. The air around the smaller tank acts as insulation to help keep the water open. This is effective with freezing temperatures that don’t last a long time.

Heated Hoses

Heated hoses. These can be very expensive. A heated hose is more than wrapping heat tape around a hose. They are specially designed to handle heat and water. Avoid using heat tape alone. You might find out that the hose has melted. This could short out your electricity.

What About Small Animals?

Chickens, other poultry and rabbits are a special consideration when the weather turns cold.  Chickens and Poultry need open water to be accessible but usually they are in small amounts that freeze quickly.  There are many commercial products such as electric heated waters and heated bases to keep water open.  Heated nipples work great for poultry. Putting a bucket heater in the water works too as long as the water container won’t melt.  Heated water bowls work great too. Be aware of DIY what were not intended to be waters such as crock pots or other household appliances. They were not meant to be used in barns or coops and are not meant to be run constantly.  They are a fire hazard. Please be careful. 

Rabbits can be a challenge in winter. Rabbits do great in cold temperatures but watering them is pain.  Using water bottles for small animals, will require you to change and unthaw the bottles a couple times a day. If you are using crocks for water, then the crocks will need to be emptied and refilled. I recommend going with plastic crocks for the winter as ceramic crock may break.   Rabbit watering systems it can be pretty easy to add a heated component to keep water flowing.  

 

How Much Water

How much water you need?  Every animal needs fresh, clean water every day. The amount of water any animal needs is dependent on the animal species and use.  For example, beef cow will use less water than a dairy cow in milk production. Animals can change their water consumption based on other factors like, if they are lactating or breeding.  Your water needs to accommodate your animals water needs.   When the temperature gets colder animals tend to drink less.  Animals under stress and poor water quality can lead to animals getting dehydrated.  

Animal	Water Consumption, Typical
	(Gallons per Day)	(liter per day)
Chickens/100	6	23
Cow, Dry	15	57
Milking Cows	35	130
Dairy Calves (1-4 months)	2.4	9
Dairy Heifers (5 – 24 months)	6.6	25
Dry Cows	9.3	41
Hog	4	15
Horse, Steer	12	45
Pig, feeder	1.1 – 2	5 – 9
Sheep	2	7.5
Rabbits	1-2 oz per pound	50-150 ml per kilo
Goats	1-3	4-5
Llama/ Alpaca	2-5 gallons	7.5 – 19
Turkeys/100	20	75

Water tends to hold on to heat. It releases the heat when the air temperature is colder than the water.  Large amounts of water hold more heat and in turn release more heat. Large bodies of water freeze over last because of the heat that is in the water.   Mist rising from the surface of a pond is an indication that the pond is warmer than the current air temperature.  It’s easier to keep a large trough open rather than several small buckets.  If all you have are buckets. You will need to knock out ice to refill them frequently throughout the day when it is freezing.  

Ice that forms on top of a bucket or trough can insulate the rest of the water, slowing the water from freezing.   With a large trough, sometimes, it’s better not to break all the ice off the top to help insulate the rest of the trough.

There’s Plenty of Snow?!

While sometimes there is more snow then we know what to do with it. Snow is not a reliable option for watering your animals.  Some animals will eat snow, but they are likely not getting enough moisture through snow alone.  Snow also can be contaminated and can be dirty.   Some animals simply cannot eat enough snow to get enough liquid.  Snow is cold and can lead to some animal getting frostbite.  Remember it takes 10-13 inches of snow to equal 1 inch of rain.  For example, it will take 10 gallons of snow to make up 1 gallon of water.   Animal especially large animals will find it is impossible for them to “eat” enough.    

Indoor or Outdoor

Where your water is placed will affect how well your water solutions work. Is the water indoors or outdoors?

Indoor water will be protected from weather and wind. It is more likely to stay open when the temperatures are near 32 degrees F. Water being indoors has the benefit of not being in the weather so routine care can be easier. Indoor water can be messy and when the water thaws, can be a big mess inside your shelters.  Making sure you have good drainage. When the water does decide to melt, will save a lot of mud and muck. 

 Outdoor watering is what most people with grazing animals have to deal with.  Outdoor water situations can be great or can be hazardous.  When using stock tanks, or an automatic waterer, animals tend to hang around the water if there isn’t enough grazing or forage. Animals hanging round the can pit up the ground making is muddy ground around the tanks. If the ground is frozen it can be slippery and/or uneven ground causing hoof injury. Adding Geo fabric or gravel around trough and water sources can reduce mud and hoof injury.

I wanted to mention a quick mention about farm emergencies. Most commonly when the power goes. This can affect you water pumps or water heaters. Need to make a plan to deal with water emergencies. How can you make sure you animals will get what they need? Have a plan. Are you ready?

Quick Note: About Generators

If you can afford a generator that is wonderful. Make sure it is in good working order and winterized every year. What is your generator able to handle as far as output. Can it run you well pump? Is it powerful enough to run electricity to your house? Know what the capacity is before bad weather. Make a plan on what you would the generator for.

Dealing with frozen water is not a lot of fun. Farmers have been dealing with this for a very long time. Technology has some great way to deal with frozen water for livestock. It is worth the time and money to put in a system that will work for your farm. Have a plan, execute plan. make adjustments as necessary.

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