How to Keep Livestock Water from Freezing

[hawgrider]

Wetting one’s whistle can be difficult in winter! We asked our Facebook fans how to keep livestock water from freezing when the weather gets cold. Here are some of their super-cool techniques.


http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/how-to-keep-livestock-water-from-freezing-zm0z15fmzsor.aspx

[Kahlan]

Thanks Hawg, good read. A couple of those ideas are a little out of my budget. Right now I just have a heat lamp set up on a switch and I just flip the switch if it's going to freeze that night. A couple mornings out in the coop with a screwdriver breaking the ice on their water taught me that right fast. For now the heat lamp is working. And thankfully we get very few freezing nights. Gives me some ideas for next winter though.

[Montana Rancher]

Here is the way to do it, I know it works in Northern Montana as my brother has installed one and used it for years.

http://www.cobett.com/about-cobett-livestock-waterers.html

I don't use one as I have a creek that flows year round, the 4-8 weeks it is totally frozen over I put out a stock tank with the common heater.

[Inor]

Thanks Rancher! That is good info.

[Inor]

Thanks Hawg, good read. A couple of those ideas are a little out of my budget. Right now I just have a heat lamp set up on a switch and I just flip the switch if it's going to freeze that night. A couple mornings out in the coop with a screwdriver breaking the ice on their water taught me that right fast. For now the heat lamp is working. And thankfully we get very few freezing nights. Gives me some ideas for next winter though.

If you can break the ice with a screwdriver, you do not have a freezing water problem. Sorry, I do not mean to be dismissive as I understand "cold" means different things in different parts of the country. But I have a stainless steel ice chisel that I made back in high school. The thing weighs over 30 pounds. This time of year, it would take me nearly an hour to punch through the ice on a lake with it to get to liquid water. If you can get to liquid water within 5 or 10 minutes, it is not worth the extra effort or expense to go to extreme measures in my arrogant opinion. No offense intended.

[Baglady]

Some neat ideas. We will have to implement some of these for next year.