Perfectspace Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Anyone got any thoughts on how to prevent water in the Glug freezing overnight? Anything I could put in the water? I thought of a ping pong ball, but it'd probably end up being played with, then eaten. I'm thinking ahead to when we may be away overnight and I don't want them going thirsty in the morning, waiting for a layer of ice to melt.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramble Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Great Question!! I was wondering the same myself having been out to chisel a hole in the iced up glug this morning, so I'll be keeping an eye on your replies!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 Some winter weather advice, including a few tips on keeping water unfrozen **here**. I find the quickest way is to sprint up the garden a couple of times a day with a watering can full of hot water and pour it through the run bars into the Glug. A bit of a stir with the run pin and it will say unfrozen for a couple of hours if the weather is Siberian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Chick Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 It won't work with a glug, but what I've done, is I have a traditional light bulb in a quality street tin, this is then plugged in (via a circuit breaker) to the main electricity. Over the tin I have a large bread crate (to stop the hens fro burning themselves on the tin) and the drinker sits on top of that. The heat generated by the light bulb was sufficient to stop the water freezing, even when we had temperatures of -13c last winter. The circuit breaker is there incase anything untoward happens with the electricity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perfectspace Posted November 16, 2010 Author Share Posted November 16, 2010 Thanks Egluntyne. Some useful info there, although interestingly using warm water doesn't necessarily make any difference to freezing time. Generally speaking warm water actually freezes faster than cold water - it's called the Mpemba Effect. Sorry - that was a bit geeky wasn't it - but useful to know! Still looking for that killer idea for my Glug....! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 ..... using warm water doesn't necessarily make any difference to freezing time. It thaws the ice for long enough for them to get a decent drink, which is the important thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perfectspace Posted November 16, 2010 Author Share Posted November 16, 2010 Oh absolutely - sorry - didn't mean to give you the impression I was not in agreement with melting the ice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramble Posted November 16, 2010 Share Posted November 16, 2010 I've heard of people adding olive oil (just a few drops) to water for rabbits to stop it freezing - any ideas if this would work with a glug (even wonder if codliveroil would work, then it's two birds with one stone, so to speak)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
