Solitary chicken - need advice

[S & S]

Im such a bad mum, i have been taking there water out each night as we have been getting visitors in the night (rats) I had to leave for work this morning at 5.30 so trundled down the garden in pitch black to open there door and put food in but dosy me didnt fill water up.

 

Just been to lock them in and they sound ok but i didnt disturb them, do you think they will be ok

[Sheilaz]

Yes, at this time of year, not summer though. They may have even found some raindrops.

Easily done though, they'll be fine & I expect you'll be out there early with breakfast tomorrow.

 

Good idea not to leave food/drink for vermin, are you taking action to get rid?

[westleigh]

Hi,i put a bucket over the water over night and lift it off in the morning,that way no unwanted guests get a free drink over night j

[Groovychook]

Oh crumbs! I only bring the grubs in at night- I can reach those easily from the ridiculously small run door! I've never considered bringing the glugs in as well am I being a bad mother?!

 

Just thought that I should add that I do make sure that the water isn't frozen in the morning!! Just worried about the rat thing...

Edited December 1, 2008 by Guest

[hennymom]

we have two water drinkers outside, and two attached the the coop door inside so if outside freezes etc they still have inside to drink from...

[S & S]

Thanks for your replies, sorry did not reply last night. Fell asleep!!

Sheila,

I have been using eradibate as its supposed to be wildlife and pet friendly and having two dogs and lots of cats in the area is a must, it seemes to work for a while but then the little blighters seem to keep coming back, i think a new family must move in or something!!

I have seen something on here about rat pellets that deter them away, sound good if they work, anyone tried them??

 

OOps and yes nearly forgot, my grilies didnt seem to be affected by the no water situation yesterday.

 

thanks

[Barkisland]

I'm a bit worried about the freezing water situation tbh. Both drinkers and the glug have been frozen solid the past two mornings, and even though I defrosted them they started to re-freeze within an hour. I have to go to work at 8am, and don't get home til after dark so don't know if or when they eventually thaw out. I don't know how to resolve this - any ideas?

(I hate winter...)

[Sandychick]

I'm a bit worried about the freezing water situation tbh. Both drinkers and the glug have been frozen solid the past two mornings, and even though I defrosted them they started to re-freeze within an hour. I have to go to work at 8am, and don't get home til after dark so don't know if or when they eventually thaw out. I don't know how to resolve this - any ideas?

(I hate winter...)

 

Same problem here. I give them warm water in the morning so it takes longer to freeze. I'm not sure what they think of it though. I don't know if it does re-freeze during the day either because I'm not here to check! It might be working though.

[Angels4]

Same problem here. I give them warm water in the morning so it takes longer to freeze. I'm not sure what they think of it though. I don't know if it does re-freeze during the day either because I'm not here to check! It might be working though.

 

I thought I had read once that warm water freezes faster than cold so I went onto www.askjeeves.com and found this. I'm not a scientist so I'm not sure of the vaildity of this information but thought I would share it here. As far as a solution I found a heated poultry waterer at my local farm supply which only turns on when the outside temp fall below freezing. Maybe you could find one in the UK.

 

Below is the info I found:

Does hot water really freeze faster than cold?

Yep.

 

It's utterly counter-intuitive, but in some cases warmer water really does freeze faster than cold water. First observed by Aristotle, the "why" of this so-called Mpemba effect has long baffled scientists. Now they may finally be close to an answer.

 

New Scientist has an article this week that explains the new research:

 

According to Jonathan Katz of the University of Washington at St Louis, it's all to do with solutes. "You have to ask yourself: what does heating do to water that makes it easier to freeze?" he says. "The answer is that it precipitates out solutes."

 

The solutes Katz has in mind are calcium and magnesium bicarbonate, which make most drinking water "hard". When the water is heated, these precipitate out to form the solid scale that "furs" up the inside of a kettle.

 

Water that has never been heated still contains these solutes. As it freezes, ice crystals form, and the concentration of solutes in the remaining water becomes ever higher up to 50 times as high as normal. This lowers the freezing point of the water, just like salt sprinkled on a road in winter. "The water therefore has to cool further before it freezes," says Katz.

 

 

The theory is testable -- the Mpemba effect should be stronger in "hard" rather than "soft" water. Any local physicists up for this? Seems like a sure thing to be published in a major journal, not to mention a publicity getter.

[emily95]

I'm worried about the water freezing too. Im thinking of putting a ping pong ball into the glug so that it can't totally freeze ( the kind of thing you do for outdoor fish) but not sure whether it would work. Any other ideas?

Emily x

[Egluntyne]

I'm worried about the water freezing too. Im thinking of putting a ping pong ball into the glug so that it can't totally freeze ( the kind of thing you do for outdoor fish) but not sure whether it would work. Any other ideas?

Emily x

 

See **this thread**

[JEAN]

I got a pack of 6 golf practice balls from Tesco at the weekend they are made of foam and rainbow coloured. They float on the surface of the glug and although the water does freeze around them there is the bit under the ball which remains ok. At least it gives them a fighting chance. While the ice is in a thin layer mine peck through to the water underneath so I am hoping that the balls help to stop the ice forming such a thick layer on the glug so that they can still get to the water. Fingers crossed!

[blackgold]

we had a plug in heather for our pond to stop it freezing. wonder if smaller battery versions are availible... perhaps omlet could help?