Frozen water troughs

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Millie82

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Is it best to break the ice but leave the ice chunks in or fish the ice chunks out?

I have heard leaving them in makes them re freeze faster as is keeps the water colder but then also heard the ice floats on top insulating the water underneath - confused?
 
Millie82 said:
Is it best to break the ice but leave the ice chunks in or fish the ice chunks out?

I have heard leaving them in makes them re freeze faster as is keeps the water colder but then also heard the ice floats on top insulating the water underneath - confused?
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Take 'em out - or the whole thing will freeze over again pdq. Keep an old sieve or colander nearby to save your fingers!
 
I have an axe:D I like my axe:D It makes chopping holes in things so much easier:D

I hate picking the chunks out so I chop a square hole and just pull that out with the head of the axe.
 
Dee - i like my axe - brilliant!!
I like my sledgehammer :D
Def take them out!

Like the idea of the rubber bucket floating. I try and add warm water to mine to stop it freezing quite so quick, and to encourage the horses to drink.
 
Do not break all the ice but just make a hole big enough for them to get their nose in and drink.
The remaining ice will act as insulation in preventing the rest of the tank from freezing as hard.
 
Agree with Foxhunter. Just make a hole bigger than horse-nose size, and then pour in a kettle of boiling water, swirl it around, and this raises the temp of the rest of the water underneath, thinning the ice. I only ever take the ice out if I know the cold snap is going to be of short duration. Otherwise I hang on to it - after all, ice is water and, despite the lavish promises of the plumber re the insulation he put on our new outside taps, it was all a load of baloney. They still freeze up, and that melted ice equals one less bucket I have to drag from the house.
 
ours havent frozen "yet" i have a big steel water trough that has a layer of old straw bedding in it (about 3 inches deep) & 3 of those big trug buckets in with water in then around the buckets was rammed full with more old bedding, we had -4 here overnight & still not frozen this morning.

last year we had 7 weeks of constantly below freezing plus the snow & i only got a thin film of ice on the buckets. POO & straw is the way forwards :)
 
Agree with Foxhunter...or if you are going to break the trough(to make visible to interfering imbeciles that you are doing so) then only break half the ice out or a smaller section. Always seive out the floaters and float something in like a rubber ball..tennis ball etc.putting the broken ice ontop of the frozen layer that you leave is also good as it makes the'insulating' layer thicker and less mess/wet around trough when it does eventually thaw.have to admit I do have a seive, but love how clean the icy water feels on your hands when you are removing the broken bits!:-)

I also make a point of eduacating any interfering whatsits that their using antifreeze will result in a very painful death...theirs.I simply cannot comprehend how stupid some can be-hugely fatal no no for any animals/birds/fish...but every year i have people stop & offer me some fro:eek:m their car if they see me smashing trough ice...they do this less tho now that I weild axes & 18lb sledgehammers in their general direction rather than a little tomahawk lump hammer!
 
I smash all the ice and remove the lot.

I have found that leaving a hole just means that once the horses have drunk as far as they can reach they get frustrated and that's when they start kicking the troughs and putting their feet in them. Although I have heated water tanks too the horses prefer to use the unheated troughs...their choice. Actually, what they really prefer to do is dig their own holes in the ponds - I just go down daily and drive the tractor or the quad over the edge to break it up for them.

A large axe or sledgehammer are my weapons of choice if I have to use anything...a word here, I don't usually lecture because I always assume that people are sensible and think of these things - but, if you are breaking ice, really thick ice, put some safety glasses on shards of ice in the eye really hurt (spoken from painful experience) and can do serious damage.

I tried the floating bottle thing in Charley's trough once, he just pulled them all out and flung them around his paddock - ungrateful git!
 
how much time have you lot got ??

I'm a slam it with my foot until my welly goes in then fish the bits out with numb fingers before chucking them in the hedge ! :-)
 
Ladylina83 said:
how much time have you lot got ??

QUOTE]

Lots, I don't work :) Which is why I am on here at 9am.

Laughing at the thought of me breaking ice with my feet ...somedays I could do a dance on top of it, with both feet.

Our ice is still thick enough on the ponds and 'puddles' for us to drive a tractor over, we skate on it, the horses walk on it - their choice, they know what they are doing.
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Ladylina83 said:
Ha Enfys - you wouldn't struggle with a Cheshire frost then :-)
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Probably not now, no.

Brute force is my answer, if a hammer won't work, use an axe, if the axe doesn't work, use the sledge hammer, if that doesn't work run into the damn thing with the quad - that always does the trick! :) Not a lot of finesse about me when I am thwarted by inanimate objects :o If all else fails, kill it and buy a new one ;)
 
Trusty hammer and this morning was trying to dodge a soft muzzle who was waiting and I really felt like offering him a straw to drink through. He stuck his nose in the little gap and did a puckered lip impression..and sucked!

Bless him...however dopey horse had not realised he actually had a big container of water in the shelter that was not frozen!!
 
It also took me nearly 2 winters of freezing cold fingers before we thought of the colander idea - bought one from our £1 shop, break the ice through with a stake, then take it all out with the colander. Absolutely brilliant - I only wish someone had suggested it to us earlier!

Also, as I'm a bit of a softie I also take a 25litre container of hot water each morning when I know it's icy, and when I've removed all the ice I add the hot water. It's not enough to make the water in the trough warm, but it takes it up to 'normal' cold, rather than freezing cold. This is becuase I've noticed that my Welshie Boy must be a sensitive soul as he doesn't drink as much if it's really cold water, and I lurrvee him so I don't mind at all :D:D
 
Dee O'Dorant said:
I have an axe:D I like my axe:D It makes chopping holes in things so much easier:D

I hate picking the chunks out so I chop a square hole and just pull that out with the head of the axe.
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This mirrors my technique.
Last night I returned from work at dusk. I was dressed as a violinist who entertains the elderly(its what I do!) so a floaty skirt etc.
Naturally I wanted to sort the water before total darkness descended.
Naturally I swapped high heeled boots for wellies,threw on a coat and picked up my axe.
I could not understand why my BF collapsed laughing when I returned from the field and matter of factly said of our youngster...........' She was a bit spooked. She has never seen a person wearing a skirt before.....and carrying an axe.'

Only horsey girls!;)
 
I wish someone would invent something that you waved at the water trough and it instantly melted back to water......hogwarts wand?......broth in law is farmer and he says remove ice but I dont have running water so if I chuck the lumps I lose the water......urghh mind you I dont think the water is running anyway outside??
 
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