Freezing Water Buckets

[MooreAcres]

Here in the northwest, as I'm sure other areas too, we are having a terrible cold front. It hasn't gotten above freezing in the last 3-4 days. Here at home, I have heated water buckets inside. I tried to find a floating heater for the buckets outside, but everywhere was sold out right now...guess everyone else beat me to them

But for now, at least they have water inside.

I board a few of my horses out. The stable cant allow us to have extention cords running all over the place, meaning no heated buckets.

My question for you is... Are there any tricks or tips you might suggest for keeping the buckets from freezing quite so bad. We're talking a couple inches thick. I've heard of salt, I've thought about having my dad insulate some of the buckets but worry if the horses would chew on it.

Anything????

 

[Kootenay]

All I can give for advice is keep the bucket at ground level with shavings and hay around it with the warmest water the horses can stand. That will at least give them a few hours of drinking time before the buckets start to freeze. I have a goat in a stall tonight that i am trying that approach with. It is -13 celsius here right now, but was colder yesterday and earlier today.

I have a bathtub with a floating tank heater for the minis and goat outside as well.

Wishing you well, and hoping this arctic front passes soon.

 

[Little Hooves]

On Yahoo Answers (no idea if it helps you):

There was an incredibly simple solution to water freezing that I saw decades ago for an outside waterer or one in the aisle where sun can reach it, not individual buckets.
 
Using old large truck tires (make arrangements with a tire place to recycle some to you or deal with a semi place yourself), stack them
one on top of another after you stuff them with straw. Insert a barrel that fits into the hole. I found that a narrow,tapered garbage can of about a 35-40 gallon capacity worked best. Fill with water. The black tires absorb the sun and serve as a solar heater. They have to come close to the top of the barrel. Cut a large round piece of plywood to cover the top and insulate it with sytrafoam and cover the foam with heavy plastic or another piece of plywood. This goes down, but not into the water.
 
Every night cover your water barrel and it will not freeze more than 1/2 inch. Remove any formed ice and pitch it. It is extremely important to top off the barrel with water and keep it filled every day for the solar effect to work and air not to get too big of a pocket on top to freeze your water. Plus, if you let the water get down, horses can't reach it.
This was the most amazing cheap water heater I ever used in cold weather. And it works.

Also, if you have oodles of money to toss around, this might also work for you (if you live in the sunnier parts of the PNW), a solar-powered heated trough.

Brenda

 

[Kootenay]

I once read an article where people used big tires used as hay feeders for horses, and the horses bit chunks off of them and colicked (sp). When we first moved here there was a plethora of tires here, and I had my ideas until I remembered that article. My mini horse was chewing on chunks of ice today (boredom)--but I can just imagine what he'd do to a tire.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I've never had heated buckets before last year and now I can't imagine how I did without them! I just bought another one today for our new horse and for the first time we've properly run the extension cords for each stall along the roof edges and down the wall beams so each stall has power and it's easy to disconnect the buckets for cleaning.

One thing you might consider doing is using a bigger bucket during the cold snap. The large muck buckets take much longer to freeze than typical water buckets and will do so in much thinner sheets that the horse can break out to get a drink. If you pile insulating straw or shavings under and around it, start with hot water, and break out and remove the ice multiple times a day it should stay pretty decent.

Good luck! This cold snap is hard on all of us.

Leia

 

[Jill]

I remember when our first winter with horses, we didn't have heated buckets. Then the next winter, we had an extension cord running from the house... We used to not have electric and water at the paddocks so would lug water in winter, etc. (Tip for anyone who does have to lug water in winter -- use a new plastic gas "can" or similar and it will not slosh out on you like it will from a bucket).

Someone here (Marnie maybe?) gave a good idea in the past that was to take water jugs or some other kind of sealable liquid container and fill it up with hot water and drop that into the trough to keep water from freezing longer.

At the feed stores or farm stores, there also might be these blue balls about the size of a soccer ball (maybe a little smaller) that are to help keep water from freezing for cattle, I think (not sure but I think that's what they're for).

One important thing to know about horses and cold weather is that just because the water is not frozen, it may still be too cold for the horse to want to drink it. It hurts to drink really cold water, so some horses will not. This can cause impaction, etc. So, along with finding a way to try and keep it from freezing, it would be good to look towards finding ways to entice the horse to want to drink the water (like flavoring it).

Also, as a barn owner, I'd really find a way to have heated water in the fields or I would not board horses. Not to sound judgemental, but I would at least worry about the problem on my hands if I've got to help deal with someone's colic horse because the horse didn't get enough water. It may be something the barn owner is willing to explore. Maybe she/he has been also worried about how to fix the problem just like you are.

For those who can have electricity in their paddocks / pastures, those big 16 gallon heated "muck bucket" shaped water containers are awesome! We've been using them for years and love them.

Good luck!!!

 

[friesepferd]

if its barely freezing, finding something to float in it may help.

I would suggest buying a floating heater online. you will get it in a few days.

 

[Charlotte]

This was a BIG problem for us when we lived in northern IL. It wasn't unusual to have temps of 20 below for several days in a row....and high winds. We carried gallon jugs of hot water to the barn at feeding time and topped off the buckets. this gave the horses water to drink after eating. By morning the buckets were frozen nearly solid.

We had to have a minimum of 2 buckets to use for water for each horse so that we could get the ice out of one while the horse used the other.

We also fed soaked alfalfa cubes, very soupy, with salt in it to encourage more water drinking. that made up part of the hay ration.

thank goodness we don't live there any more.

Charlotte

 

[TheCaseFamily00]

The ice will break easier out of the black rubber type buckets.

 

[muffntuf]

Yes before I could afford the heated buckets I used the black rubber buckets. You can bang on those with hammers and against wooden posts and they won't break. I put in water that was slightly warm, but not too warm for them to drink and that stayed a few hours before it froze, giving them plenty of time to drink their fill before it froze. And that usually emptied the bucket half way and was easier to break open.

You can also try to rig a few up with a bigger bucket on the outside and a black rubber bucket on the inside nestled in foam insulation. You just have to make sure you use duct tape to secure the foam insulation from nawing teeth. That will help wit time and freezing buckets. You just slip the smaller bucket inside the bigger bucket.

 

[kmh]

My husband took a 30 gallon plastic barrel and put a smaller plastic barrel inside of the 30 gallon one. He then used several cans of that "foaming" insulation (it expands as you spray it out of the can) to put in between the two barrels to insulate it. The second barrel has to be small enough to allow sufficent room for good insulation between the barrels. He then cut a hole about 8" x 8" in the side of the barrel..with barrel laying on it's side. He built a wood frame under the barrel so it would stay in place and not roll.

He did not remove the plastic where he cut the hole in the outer barrel, but bent it down into the interior barrel hole so the horses would not get hurt on it and it also covers the insulation so the horses can't get at it.

We put a sinkable tank heater in it ($50 at farm stores)....it's round metal with legs on the bottom of it so it does not melt the plastic. You have to be sure to set it away from the sides of the barrel as well. We have used this for the past few years and have excellent luck with it.

Our other tank we used an oblong Rubbermaid plastic livestock tank about 30"' high, put 2 cement blocks in the bottom of it to hold up a smaller oblong steel water tank (steel tank is one foot deep) to make it high enough for the horses to reach. We put fiberglass insulation on the bottom and around the sides steel tank inside the Rubbermaid tank.

We used the same type of sinkable tank heater to set in the steel tank. He cut a piece of plywood to cover the steel tank and screwed it down to the steel tank top rim, cut a hole in the plywood for horses to drink. Then he attached more fiberglas insulation to the top of the plywood and covered the plywood/insulation with a heavy rubber "tarp" (for lack of a better word). He left the "flaps" (where he cut the drinking hole) of the rubber tarp hanging inside the water tank to keep the horses from the insulation. We do have to be careful when filling this tank so the water does not run over the top of the steel tank as not to get the insulation wet.

Hope this helps.

Steph

 

[AJ]

All my horses have access to heated water. (my own contraption s with battery blanket heaters). However, if you are having frozen water, you must have snow. I always like to feed hay on the snow, and find that some horses drink no water but will crunch snow as they eat, even if hard packed because of no fresh snow. This will give them some liquid in the event your bucket freezes before they drink. Horses generally only drink after 1 1/2 to 2 hours into their meal. Have never had a winter colic.

PS Have used tires in various formats for 20 years and never had a problem.

 

[targetsmom]

I didn't read all the responses so maybe this was already mentioned.. They make insulated buckets for big horses that hold a Strongid-size bucket but you can make your own. We have mostly heated buckets and tubs but one mare I just don't trust with a cord so she gets an "insulated" bucket made by putting one bucket inside the other. Air acts as insulation or you can put anything between the buckets that they won't eat, like rubber pieces from stall mats. It may take awhile to find the right combination, but if you do, you can use it all year.

The insulated buckets that you buy come with a piece of styrofoam to cover the water, which also helps. If you trust your horse not to eat it!

 

[Carolyn R]

They do sell the insulated contraption that mounts to a wall and holds the average size 5 gallon bucket.

I have also heard on here in the past to use the same concept as the strw in the tire but to use manure, its microbial decomp gives off heat.

 

[Jill]

You can also try to rig a few up with a bigger bucket on the outside and a black rubber bucket on the inside nestled in foam insulation. You just have to make sure you use duct tape to secure the foam insulation from nawing teeth. That will help wit time and freezing buckets. You just slip the smaller bucket inside the bigger bucket.

At least one very good member here lost a horse because it swallowed duct tape. I would not rig up anything for our horses that involved duct tape.

 

[LindaL]

All my horses have access to heated water. (my own contraption s with battery blanket heaters). However, if you are having frozen water, you must have snow. I always like to feed hay on the snow, and find that some horses drink no water but will crunch snow as they eat, even if hard packed because of no fresh snow. This will give them some liquid in the event your bucket freezes before they drink. Horses generally only drink after 1 1/2 to 2 hours into their meal. Have never had a winter colic. PS Have used tires in various formats for 20 years and never had a problem.

Nope, no snow...just FROZEN air. This morning was 13 F. at our house...air dry as a bone. (I live in the same area as Erin, the OP).

 

[wantminimore]

I didn't read all the responses so maybe this was already mentioned.. They make insulated buckets for big horses that hold a Strongid-size bucket but you can make your own. We have mostly heated buckets and tubs but one mare I just don't trust with a cord so she gets an "insulated" bucket made by putting one bucket inside the other. Air acts as insulation or you can put anything between the buckets that they won't eat, like rubber pieces from stall mats. It may take awhile to find the right combination, but if you do, you can use it all year.
The insulated buckets that you buy come with a piece of styrofoam to cover the water, which also helps. If you trust your horse not to eat it!

I have the insulated bucket holders, 3 are the plastic ones that came with a plastic floater to keep the water from freezing. I needed another one and couldn't find where I got the others so I ended up ordering one that is metal with thin blue insulation in it and the floater was just a piece of blue board insulation, it took no time for the horse to break it in half (blue board)so I wasn't to thrilled with that type but I did find where I can buy just the floaters and got one for the 4th bucket. The water does freeze some when it's extremely cold but I add hot water and the floats thaw right out.

Someone gave me a heated "muck bucket" and i'm just now trying it. Last year was the first time that i've used a heated bucket, 2 of my stalls don't have the insulated buckets so I thought i'd try the heated ones, i'm still undecided on them.

 

[Leeana]

We use all heated water buckets - the smaller 5 gallon buckets inside the stalls and then the bigger buckets out in the pasture. We have a heated feed room with a sink where we run the water hose from, we drain the hose and bring the hose into the feed room so it does not freeze.

Its simple, it works.

 

[luv2ridesaddleseat]

Leslie, can you tell me where I can get one floater cover, as I am short one.

Thanks!

 

[Knighthawke]

I heard this in a horse course I took in college. People talked about putting like a bucket inside a bucket and then packing straw in between them. I was told in my course to mix horse or cattle manure in with the straw. Of course when it is bio degrading manure causes heat so it will keep it warmer and keep from freezing.

The one idea they talked about is in a pasture to use an old bath tub and build a box around it an then pack the straw and manure in the box.. You of course have to clean it out in the spring.

I do have the horse buckets that are not heated but have an insulated unit around the bucket and the floatation device in it. They stay pretty un thawed the most I have to do is hit the float and if there is any ice I will dip it out.

Barb