Freezing Water Trough Solution?

[BonneMaman]

Has anyone tried digging a shallow pit under a trough/container, putting container on bricks and filling pit with horse poo?

Read this elsewhere and it sounded like a valid solution to an yearly pain!

Something we all have loads of that is sure ..... horse poo!

 

[Alphamare]

I was thinking of doing this as well, but taking it further and putting the poo around the water cointainer. maybe using planks or something so the entire water trough is surrounded by nice warming poo.

anyone done this?

 

[123Jump!]

but surely if you leave it for too long then the poo will cool down and then the water will freeze anyway??

 

[Cop-Pop]

We dug holes into the muck heap last year and put buckets in them. It worked most of the time apart from when it was -15 and colder. I wrapped the buckets indoors in the green wrapping from the haylage bales and that worked, also worked for the buckets in the outdoor pen (were undercover).

 

[Alphamare]

but surely if you leave it for too long then the poo will cool down and then the water will freeze anyway??

Have you ever stood in a muck heap?

The breaking down of the poo generates warmth. I am hoping to replicate this on a smaller scale (and keep topping it up as winter goes on) to keep water troughs unfrozen.

 

[stencilface]

We lit a fire under ours but it wasn't that effective - I want to find some way of insulating it, at the moment I'm thinking of something with bubble wrap or some insulating boards, some wood and a whole load of black duct tape.

Of course we'll all get prepped for a really harsh winter and then it'll be really wet and mild, ah the british weather

 

[Piaffe63]

Try putting a tennis ball in the water

 

[Slightly Foxed]

Try putting a tennis ball in the water

That doesn't work below a certain temperature unfortunately. Packing the troughs with pooh sounds like a good idea, worth a try, at least the pooh's 'free'.

 

[planete]

Can't someone design something like a battery operated insulation blanket to go around water tanks away from mains electricity? I would buy one straightaway! There must be a handy person somewhere who can do this surely. There is a fortune waiting to be made. Please, anyone?

 

[Aoibhin]

Can't someone design something like a battery operated insulation blanket to go around water tanks away from mains electricity? I would buy one straightaway! There must be a handy person somewhere who can do this surely. There is a fortune waiting to be made. Please, anyone?

they do but they are REALLY expensive & need to be imported from america (unless they have concored the uk now)

we have a steel trough with a few inches of straw in it then the BIG tuff trugs sat onto it & straw packed around tightly, worked throughout last years snow up on our exposed grazing.

 

[xTrooperx]

ive been tempted to wrap with a couple of inches of straw and them clinfilm to hold in place, but didnt know if it would work os never tried it. or am i odd?