We have beef cattle away from the house in an area without electricity. Is there a way to keep their water from freezing? thanks, Mary

-- Mary Fraley (kmfraley@orwell.net), December 27, 2001

Answers

Response to keep water from freezing without electricity

yes,,,,,,,,,,, check the archives

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), December 27, 2001.

Response to keep water from freezing without electricity

How cold does it get where you are? How many cattle?

They make propane heaters. I've seen old style wood & kero heaters too, but those take some effort!

If you have enough cattle, they make 'energy free' waterers that pull heat up from the ground, lots of insulation, & the heat of the water to keep them thawed.

--->Paul

-- paul (ramblerplm@hotmail.com), December 27, 2001.

Response to keep water from freezing without electricity

Hi Mary. Yes, we have heated water for both horses and cattle without electricity. One tank was a round (large) galvanized water tank. In the middle I believe we laid four cement blocks. Then we set our wood burner up on them. (Small homemade job) I burned ALOT of cobs in that one. Start the fire with the cobs then add your wood or whatever you are burning. In the coldest times (constant below zero) I would have to take the axe out. It depends alot on how much you burn. The cattle and horses pretty well get on to coming and taking on water when you fire it up.

Here, since we do not have as many head, we use the smaller oval water tank. Again, the cement blocks in the one end. This one we put a hog hut over, cut a hog panel to cover the open end (leaving room for them to get a drink) It was surprising how much the hog hut helped. We had to restoke every four to six hours. It worked great. Hope this helps alittle. It is extra work..but some places there just in no access to electricity. Like I say..they catch right on and really drink more since it is warmed water. Good luck!

-- Sher in se Iowa (riverdobbers@webtv.net), December 27, 2001.

Response to keep water from freezing without electricity

Air bubbles will prevent freezing if you can run a line to get compressed air to the tank from an air compressor located in an area with electricity and shelter; its low pressure, gentle air release. So no heavy expence to set up the system if you have an air compressor.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), December 27, 2001.

Response to keep water from freezing without electricity

on one of the threads someone said that you can take a propane gas bottle and a small hose and turn it on where it bubbles and that will keep the water from frezzing. jim

-- Jim Raymond (jimr@terraworld.net), December 27, 2001.

Response to keep water from freezing without electricity

I should have been more specific. We have two beef cows in a shed on the other side of our ravine. They have a fenced area. We give them water from a nearby pond and use a cut-down plastic barrel to keep it in. Thanks for the suggestions. I don't know how practical they are for us, but we appreciate the novel ideas you all come up with! Mary

-- Mary Fraley (kmfraley@orwell.net), December 27, 2001.

Response to keep water from freezing without electricity

Though I haven't tried it I have heard that a basket ball placed int he water will help. The stock end up moving it around when they drink which keeps the ice broken up. I have thought about a couple apples to so my horses can amuse themselves and keep the tank ice down by trying to get them.

-- Stacia in OK (oneclassycowgirl@aol.com), December 28, 2001.

Response to keep water from freezing without electricity

I like the basketball idea...sounds like something we can try.

-- Mary Fraley (kmfraley@orwell.net), December 28, 2001.

Response to keep water from freezing without electricity

You still didn't say where you live. Here where I am in Minnesota, only applying real heat will actually do anything. A tank of water, with basketballs, compressed air, or anything else will freeze up solid overnight when it is 10 below. (Should only hit zero tonight, so not too bad....) Since you talk about a pond, it must not get so cold by you - here there is normally a foot of ice on any pond by the end of January.

It helps if we know what temperatures you are dealing with.

--->Paul

-- paul (ramblerplm@hotmail.com), December 28, 2001.

Response to keep water from freezing without electricity

I live in NE Ohio. Temps get down to zero at times, but usually are in the 10's and 20's during winter. We get lake effect snow from Lake Erie. Right now it's about 30 degrees (at 5:00 pm) and we have 2-3 inches of snow. It's supposed to snow more tonight, we may get 4 inches. Mary

-- Mary Fraley (kmfraley@orwell.net), December 28, 2001.

Response to keep water from freezing without electricity

Also, the pond will freeze over during January, I'm sure. The neighbor who owns it has a pipe from it to his barn, which is close to our shed, and he has graciously told us we can use it for watering our heifers. Right now we just dip buckets into it to get the water. Mary

-- Mary Fraley (kmfraley@orwell.net), December 28, 2001.