Winter is fast approaching and if you are like me, you do not have electricity in your chicken coop so heated water dishes are out of the question. I have had to find creative ways to stop our chickens water from freezing solid and this method is the most successful so far. You can watch our full tutorial video below or keep scrolling to read through the step by step instructions.
Materials:
- An old tire (We found ours on the side of the road near our house)
- 3 Gallon Rubber Bucket
- Bubble Wrap/Packing material (To be used as insulation)
- Water bottle full of salt water (Use 1/4 cup of salt)
Instructions:
1.) Fill the inside of your tire with bubble wrap or packing material. This will provide insulation for your water bowl. As the sun heats up the black rubber tire it will trap heat inside.
2.) Place the rubber bucket inside the opening of your tire.
3.) Place the salt water bottle in the bucket and fill with water. As the wind blows and the chickens peck at the water, the bottle will move around and create ripples so that the water is less likely to freeze. Also, the bottle is filled with salt water because salt water has a much lower freezing temperature so it will take longer for the surrounding water to freeze.
