Drinking frozen water...

hudsonw

hudsonw

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I know this might be a stupid question but with all this cold weather, will the ice in buckets be bad for their tummys?

My horse hasn't been out all week and tonight he's got a med & a heavy weight on as it's meant to be the coldest night of the year and down to -18 where i live!!!

I break the ice on his buckets (in the stable!!) but it ends up like a slush puppy!!
Drinking ice cold water all the time - could it give him an upset tum?
 
Just read an article on exactly this in Horse mag. They are pointing out that if the water is iced up or just plain freezing cold (horses like the water to be at 5deg C apparently!) the horse may not drink enough and that brings an associated risk of impaction colic. Eeep!
 
Definitely on the not drinking enough, at least for some horses. This is a problem even in climates where water regularly ices over so horses are used to it. I had one mare that would not drink at all if there was any ice in the trough or her bucket. Others don't mind at all and will happily break through ice to drink.

Whenever possible, I like offering horses warm water at least a couple of times a day in this weather, even if it's just by pouring a kettle full into their regular bucket. Some won't bother but if a horse is reluctant it gives it a chance to drink and alerts me to the fact that I need to keep an eye on the situation, perhaps offering that horse more warm water more often.
 
Also, try offering moisture rich feeds, speedi beet (really sloppy) and haylage if possible...also succulents (ie turnip, carrot, apple) will help with moisture intake. It's not all they need, but it'll help.
 
i worry about this too.am topping up buckets with warm water when i feed before turning out and friend is doing same before she brings in at 2.30pm, and i add warm water at 5pm and 9pm so they get chances to drink tepid and not freezing water.they are obviously not touching the freezing troughs in the day as are drinking loads more overnight, poor ponies.
 
We've found putting an apple in the bucket works the greedy/clever ones will try and drink the bucket to get to the apple and the others seem to play with it which seems to stop the water from freezing

Sorry not really answering your question but seems to work re-preventing ice
 
Thanks everyone...glad to see i'm not the only one who has thought about this.
I would put an apple in his bucket but he's a bucket tipper and i don't fancy a frozen bed as well as the ice in the bucket!!!...good idea though for those people who don't have bucket monsters.
He's drinking the same amount and even making his own hole in the ice but i was just worried that all that ice is bad for his tummy...i know i wouldn't like to only drink Slush Puppys all day (unless they were the cherry ones!!)
Thanks for the advice...stay upright in the snow xx
 
Just a thought, if horse tends to tip his bucket if an apple where to be put in it, why not still put the apple in the water bucket but stand the bucket in an old car tyre or 2, might prevent him tipping bucket over, and also may be a small amount of insulation from cold weather- just pondering on ideas. ...I'll keep my daft ideas to myself!!
blush.gif
 
I'm topping up stable waters with buckets of hot water from the house.

Evening feeds are made up with sloppy sugar beet made with kettles of boiling water.

Carrots for their breakfast are taken in the house overnight so they are not frozen in the morning.

Finally, I'm feeding more haylage than hay at the moment due to the higher water content.
 
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