Frozen water and troughs - Help required

Kokopelli said:
Don't use hot/ warm water! It freezes way faster then cold water.
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Of course hot water doesn't freeze faster than cold - it takes longer for hot water to get back down to 0 degrees than cold water!

Also, a lot of horses don't like drinking very cold, icy water, so warming it up makes it more appealing and therefore reduces the risk of colic.
 
StarcatcherWilliam said:
Of course hot water doesn't freeze faster than cold - it takes longer for hot water to get back down to 0 degrees than cold water!

Also, a lot of horses don't like drinking very cold, icy water, so warming it up makes it more appealing and therefore reduces the risk of colic.
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Hot water does freeze faster than cold water (in certain cirumstances)... crazy but true!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mpemba_effect
 
Yes indeed hot water does bizarrely freeze quicker than cold. BUT the hot water does melt the ice which means they can drink!!

I take the ice out and put it in a nother bucket and place in the sun so it melts in the bucket then you can put it back in again.
 
The last few days have been miserable even down in Surrey! My daily routine is smashing water troughs with a brick, sieving out the ice with a shavings fork, then bringing in the horses and ponies for a bucket each of Apple Horse Quencher, at least I know they have had a bucket each before the damn troughs freeze over again! Every yard should have it, godsend all year round!
 
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i've never done this, but have a couple of ideas!!!!
why not try, as late as you can do, tie two thick rubber hot water bottles filled with boiling water inside of trough so they are at top of water lever> heat rises so get as close to top as can but ensuring they are fully in. this will keep water around them un frozen, and to drink the horse can nudge them out of way. .... otherwise get yourself some insulator foam with foil each side, like they use on new build cavity walls. cut out a few chunks, and lay on top of water, they will bob about looking like mini icebergs but will keep temp up and stop water becoming frozen solid .... :o
 
In the stables, overnight, we put the buckets on top of a slice of straw, thgen put more slices around it - between the walls etc. We also shut the top doors at night in really cold weather to stop it freezing (the stables have plenty of vents and air movement other than the doors).

In the fields, we find its just best to totally empty the trough each night, and turn it upside down, then put fresh water in the next day when they go out - not much more than they need... This stops the ice building up in rings around the trough and turning the bucket into an ice lined bucket that freezes quicker. (This doesn't help those whoese horses live out..)

PS, I did an experiment yesterday with boiling water and cold water, and the cold water froze first... the boiling water cooled very quickly and froze not long after, so it didn't help much!
 
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