Anyone else having water trough troubles with all this ice? Any tips?

[Puppy]

I have been breaking the ice on the horses trough regularly, and the horses have been doing it themselves, by the looks of things, but it's now gotten so thick that it's becoming rather difficult to break it.

As all the pipes have frozen I am unable to get any more water out. This means that the trough they are currently drinking from is becoming quite low and I'm now out of the stash I keep in the feed room.

This evening I had to try and get water out of the other trough to top theirs up. After breaking the bucket that I was smashing against it

I tried in vain with a feed stirrer, and then stamping on it, with no luck. In the end I had to climb into it, hold both edges and jump up and down on it

(thank goodness for Dubarrys

) Even then it took several attempts to even crack it! I then had to pry out the huge slices of ice, which were almost 3 inches thick

and try to scoop out what water that there was underneath, to then carry and empty into the trough they are using. I ache like hell after all that. My whiplash does not approve

I've brought home a big water drum to fill from home, as well as planning to take as many flasks and bottles of warm water possible to melt down the ice with... I should think YO will also let me access some from from his kitchen sink

But it's going to be pretty tricky to get it from there to up the field....

We have quite a few more days of frost to come by the looks of things and won't be able to get anything out of the pipes on the yard.

Is there anything else I can do? Will the horses eat the snow to keep themselves hydrated?

Both my horses tend to go for a drink after their hard feed, but despite all my efforts they didn't tonight, nor did they seem dehydrated, so I wondered if they'd eaten snow instead??

 

[FestiveSpirit]

We dont have water to the fields, only buckets which are refilled, so no problems for us - the YO goes around on the quad bike and refills them from containers as required

It is a pain at the moment, I smashed the ice on mine this morning at 8.15am when I was out with the dogs (Bob was eating breakfast) and by the time Bob went out at 9am it had frozen over again

 

[V1NN]

yes! mines been frozn up a lot in last couple of days, i had to put bare hand into the freeeeeezing water lol have wrapped lots of straw around water buckets tonight although doubt it will do much good -6c here just now boo! lol

 

[goneshowjumping]

im having the same problems! i was told once to place a small "mini" type football in the trough/bin this prevents it freezing, but all its done is freeze the damn ball in the water!!!!!!
we have been boiling the kettle just to get the top layer melted, and as the water is so cold underneath, the water is not warm for the horses, it just takes away the top layer, but within half hour of doing this its freezing back over! i thnk we are all fighting a losing battle!

 

[QUICKFIRE]

Try putting a piece of wood in the trough, bigger the better then all you have to do is push it down, which will leave a hole so horses can drink, if you worried about dehydration, make up feeds a bit slopy with warm water.

 

[DivaRosa]

My trough is totally empty now as the pipes are frozen solid. Been putting out buckets of warm water but even so, it freezes within 2 hrs. It's -8 here now so think iam fighting a losing battle!

 

[Katie__Connie]

Me too

In the ponies field there is a stone trough and the ice on that was easy to break but the horses have a metal trough and the ice was SOOOOO thick i kept dropping a brick on it till it cracked though

 

[hadfos]

We have rubber truggs and bath tubs so have been filling with water containers,ours only going out for a couple hrs though as far easier to give them water in the stable,and it stops them getting into too much trouble when they get bored also,lol!

 

[china]

i have heard about putting a football in so you can take the football out in the morning and there is a hole for your horse to drink from. i find the fuller the trough/bucket is, the thinner the ice is on top, the lower its is the more freezes and the thicker the ice is.

 

[russianhorse]

Oh yes - I've been having massive trouble too

Unfortunately my silly horsey isn't capable of breaking the ice himself, so im having to smash it open and break the rest with my bare hands - brrrrrrrrrrr.

Im also making his feed quite sloppy with warm water - well, Ive got to warm his cockles lol

I read putting a ball in the trough is a good idea, so i've done that tonight and will see in the morning - hopefully my boy didnt removed it when I left

 

[grandmaweloveyou]

apples. its hilarious watching the horses "bobbing apples" and keeps the whole in the ice if they dont succeed in catching them and gives them a game to play whilst moving the water around - my clever man actually ate both his apples last night damn him!

 

[Charmaine18]

Yep! We have automatic water troughs, which are fantastic most of the time but are a right pain now everything's frozen. I've got steel-toed boots so I've been going around stamping through the ice, pulling out as many chunks as I can and refilling them with water from the YO's kitchen sink (thank god she doesn't mind us traipsing through her house!) - it takes a looong time when you can only go 2 buckets at a time and there are 19 horses to water.

 

[Puppy]

[ QUOTE ]
Try putting a piece of wood in the trough, bigger the better then all you have to do is push it down, which will leave a hole so horses can drink, if you worried about dehydration, make up feeds a bit slopy with warm water.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks

They already have water in their feeds, but I shall add some wood to the trough if I can melt it down enough in the morning

 

[3Beasties]

If you can then take all the broken ice out, if not it just gets thicker and thicker every day making it harder to break.

Also putting tennis balls, footballs or apples in will help as well.

 

[Puppy]

[ QUOTE ]
im having the same problems! i was told once to place a small "mini" type football in the trough/bin this prevents it freezing, but all its done is freeze the damn ball in the water!!!!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I've had the same trouble. Plus, my little dog would probably swipe the ball as soon as I put it in!

[ QUOTE ]
we have been boiling the kettle just to get the top layer melted, and as the water is so cold underneath, the water is not warm for the horses, it just takes away the top layer, but within half hour of doing this its freezing back over! i thnk we are all fighting a losing battle!

[/ QUOTE ]

Indeed, and I can't even get anything out the pipes at the yard to fill the kettle with!

 

[Puppy]

[ QUOTE ]
We have rubber truggs and bath tubs so have been filling with water containers,ours only going out for a couple hrs though as far easier to give them water in the stable,and it stops them getting into too much trouble when they get bored also,lol!

[/ QUOTE ]

Mine are out 24/7

Even if they were stabled, I wouldn't be able to fill up water buckets!

 

[Puppy]

[ QUOTE ]
apples. its hilarious watching the horses "bobbing apples" and keeps the whole in the ice if they dont succeed in catching them and gives them a game to play whilst moving the water around - my clever man actually ate both his apples last night damn him!

[/ QUOTE ]

That would be fine it it were Star, but I don't think it would stop it freezing, and I would be too worried about Be eating frozen apples

 

[kit279]

Can you get a magnetic stirrer? I've pinched one from my lab and it keeps the water moving so it doesn't get the chance to freeze..

 

[Puppy]

Being an arts student, I have no idea what that is!

Can you show me what you mean?

Thanks.

 

[TheMule]

I use a hammer- works beautifully!

 

[kit279]

I couldn't find a cheap one online but this is what I mean:-

http://www.bestlabdeals.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BEL1351


You put the box bit under the trough and then there's a plastic coated magnetic 'bar' that sits on the bottom of the trough and spins because the magnet in the box rotates. They aren't monstrously expensive where we buy them from in our department - about £40?

 

[now_loves_mares]

I keep a sledge hammer under the water trough. Strangely none of my work colleagues have operated heavy tools before the sun is up - I think they now realise I'm mental

If that then runs low I take the water container down from my horsebox and fill a trug. In theory you can kick that to break the ice, but it's freezing too thick right now. Plus my ungrateful girls usually just tip it up.

Mine are out all day, but we do have 6 inches of snow, they seem to love snuffling about in it so I assume they've realised it's just cold water

 

[shellonabeach]

We are keeping a football in our outdoor trough. Its not stopping the ice from forming but I can either stamp on the ball and the ice under it breaks or like this morning pull the ball out and stamp on the hole it has left.

As someone else here has said often I have found the horses have thrown the ball out to drink from the hole it leaves.

Our tap is frozen solid and I am carting water in a container from home twice a day for 2 horses. I have also been unable to park near the field due to icy lane so am parking a few mins walk away and pulling the container along on the ice on the road!!

 

[jesterfaerie]

I have been having to break the ice in my troughs around 2-3 times a day at the moment. They are very very very bad in a morning and the ice is like 4" thick

Thankfully I managed to find the sledge hammer and even with that it has proved difficult to break on some mornings. Thankfully we haven't had an issue with the pipes yet as we are keeping the water slowly running 24/7, however someone keeps turning it off and it is driving my dad up the wall

 

[Ellies_mum2]

We are managing to keep one water trough slowly filling up and using that to top the water up in the other fields. Taking water from home too to mix feeds with and fill the kettle so we can have a hot drink while we are there


Just think this is only the start of winter

 

[jesterfaerie]

[ QUOTE ]
Just think this is only the start of winter

[/ QUOTE ]

That is probably the most depressing thing I have heard this year.

 

[joeanne]

£40????
£3.99 for a bag of plastic "ball pond" balls.
Fill the trough up, the balls will prevent the water totally freezing. Drinking ponies will move the balls around.
Added bonus is your horse will never again be fearful of a brightly coloured plastic object again!

 

[cariad]

Have you seen those sort of large bags with a nozzle that you put in your wheelbarrow and fill with water and then wheel them out to your troughs and tip the barrow so that the water pours out through the nozzle in to the trough, or whatever? They are only about a tenner and I saw them in summer and wish I'd got one now I'm lugging dustbins of water around in the wheelbarrow, which slop everywhere. Can't think why I didn't, except I suppose the horrors of winter sort of fade away in summer. I am going off first thing after Christmas to get one/two.

 

[Puppy]

[ QUOTE ]
Have you seen those sort of large bags with a nozzle that you put in your wheelbarrow and fill with water and then wheel them out to your troughs and tip the barrow so that the water pours out through the nozzle in to the trough, or whatever? They are only about a tenner and I saw them in summer and wish I'd got one now I'm lugging dustbins of water around in the wheelbarrow, which slop everywhere. Can't think why I didn't, except I suppose the horrors of winter sort of fade away in summer. I am going off first thing after Christmas to get one/two.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I have one, but it's not much use if the pipes at the yard are frozen solid, and you can hardly fill it from the kitchen sink at home

My problem isn't getting the water up the field, it's getting the water to the yard!

 

[TarrSteps]

[ QUOTE ]
Have you seen those sort of large bags with a nozzle that you put in your wheelbarrow and fill with water and then wheel them out to your troughs and tip the barrow so that the water pours out through the nozzle in to the trough, or whatever? They are only about a tenner and I saw them in summer and wish I'd got one now I'm lugging dustbins of water around in the wheelbarrow, which slop everywhere. Can't think why I didn't, except I suppose the horrors of winter sort of fade away in summer. I am going off first thing after Christmas to get one/two.

[/ QUOTE ]

In the mean time, line your buckets with garbage bags, fill them up and then tie the bags to prevent spillage.

I have lots of experience with frozen pipes, icy troughs and all the other problems of watering horses in sub-zero temperatures.

And before anyone asks, outdoor troughs in Canada almost always have submersible heaters.

One thing that does help though, is insulating/covering as much of the trough as possible. Best is a lined "lid" leaving only a small area to drink from but, if your horses will stand it, a dark plastic covering over 2/3 or so of the trough might work in a pinch. If you can, it's also helpful to either insulate the outside of your trough or, if you're using a smaller receptacle, put it inside a larger container and then fill the gap with something insulating like foam, vermiculite etc. It won't stop the water from freezing, obviously, but it will slow the rate at which it chills.