Freeze proof chicken waterer with no electric heater and no bill!!! 

Here is a link to update video. How it reacted to different temps✌🏻 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-d85UxrC5Gxk.htmlsi=_9OK0OXCGlzbvG6C

lol "GRAB THE PICK BOY" I'm 66 my dad just died at 91 this September 30. I wish I could hear him say that one more time. His best quote was "Come with me boy" Where we going dad? "Were going to go get you a job" He was the best dad ever. Teaching your lads to work............the best lesson ever.

Same thing works for dogs cows and ducks, cut one side off same size bowl flip it upside down, put a couple screws in it. It will create an opening for chickens to drink and stops the wind from the water top. Also will keep it cleaner.

Instead of building the box use an old tire and spray foam to seal it in

You're a good father. You are teaching skills, ethics, guiding your son and saving the old ways. I loved leaning this. Thank you!

Nice! This is actually geo-thermal technology!

A man under the age of 30 who actually knows how to swing a pick. That's heartening to see

Your best man has excellent aim with that pick! Thanks for the video!

This is the kind of true off grid stuff I like to learn about. I had a good idea what you were doing pretty quick, as I have studied earth air heat exchange systems (fancy way of saying earth tubes) for some time. With the help of some online chat groups, I have been running simulations on several designs for a passive solar home with earth tubes for air intake and clear story "vent" window for the circulation. Much like a chimney draft, hot air rises out of the clear story window pulling fresh, tempered air in through the earth tubes. The goal is no cost heating and cooling year round, and no major mechanical systems to break down or wear out over time. Heat in the winter provided by solar heat gain, and cooling in the summer provided by the earth tubes. An automatic solar greenhouse vent cylinder will act as the "thermostat", varying the the clear story window opening to control the air flow. They have been used in greenhouses for a long time, require no electric, and can last 50 years or more. Probably longer inside a house, as the humidity will be less than a greenhouse typically is.

The strength of the young, the wise guidance of the aged.

Grand IDEA! THANK YOU SO MUCH. Wish our ground was not completely frozen or I would be out there doing this now here in Upper Michigan. These old ways have to be passed on and I can't thank you enough.

Awesome I’m gonna make one of those live in Colorado Strasburg. I bet he keeps it cooler in the summer.

this is one of the best idia for homesteading and using the sourse that we have alrady there and reduse hydro bills thanks a lot for sharing you got new subscribe greeting from canada.

what a fantastic idea. As an elderly woman with no strong men to dig the hole, I cannot make one, but I love the idea! Thanks!

Most awesome! Love the old tried and true ways! Thanks for sharing!

Another tactic that I've seen: Use a barrel to feed a water-nipple pipe. I detest open shallow pan waterers, they're disgusting in minutes and miserable to clean midwinter. Make the nipple-waterer pipe out of black ABS. It's the same set-up, but you put a small uninsulated barrel over the heat pipe, and invert a larger insulated barrel over it. A 30-gallon plastic potable barrel and a 55-gallon drum, painted black, that's stuffed with insulation works pretty well. Since you have to remove the insulating barrel from time to time to replenish the water, you can keep it in place with window screen or hardware cloth. Great video, thanks for the content!

good idea for moderate cold. Winters in northern BC would overwhelm the geothermal heating effect, however….frost penetrates past 4 feet here. My solution is fresh warm water for my hens, every 8 hours, and kept inside the coop, where the bodyheat from all my birds keeps the ambient air temperature quite a bit warmer than outdoors. We hit -40° temps thru the winter…solar panel and direct connection to a heating element helps some…but again, winters offer minimal sun for this to work well. Extraordinary warm el nińo winter this year….chickens are still having dust baths outside, Dec 15…and still laying up a storm! Cheers from the great white north!👍🇨🇦

A big thanks to all of you who shared your ideas, as well. I attended a Farm (high school) School and I will be sharing this post with them, as well as my cousin who is continuing farming, as did his parents, and grands. Great idea, as well as all of those who shared your ideas here. Now that I am retired, I am finally in the process of finding my forever home and farm to be a place where Veterans, First Responders, SpecialNeeds Children, and others can come and find comfort and peace at. There are existing Programs for Veterans to help them get a farm and teach them how to get started so they have a great foundation and success rate... me, my plan is to be doing much the same. I'll be raising some of our Endangered Livestock Species, instead. Now, you got me curious as to what my cousin has been doing. Blessings to you and to those that have shared and to those yet to post. .

So glad to see your son helping you. The young guys this days are many with out a clue 😢

I've never seen such a shovel so flimsy! Thanks for sharing!

Well this is interesting.... We live in Wisconsin and there is not a chance we can dig that far down without machinery. This will be a great project for my kids next year!

Oh Thank You!!!...i dont use electric from the "grid" at all...and even this early in the winter season my chickens water ices up everyday...i usually just drop a couple of heated rocks from my woodstove into their pan twice a day...but i like this idea and will give it a try if only just to see how well it works because i raised a orphened deer fawn this summer and she drinks from the chickens pan daily...

Totally going to try this next Summer. We live here in Iowa. I do the farming. It is my gig.

If you pot some dark gravel or dark flat stone around it it’ll attract more heat as well as keep the water cleaner. This is great! Wish I were young enough to do this. I just keep changing the water during the day. ❤thank you. I’m a new subscriber

Great tip. Also agree about teaching old tips to the next generation.

I’m a mom, and a grandma. I just wish you had some type of grid on top of that pole to keep a small child from falling down in it. Love this project

I like using large, old coolers and chest freezers for these kind of projects. No rot or need paint.

Thanks for the video. Fine work by your number one helper.

I just wanted to give a big thank you for my silver bar and sweet t shirt. I will wear it proudly this summer! Thanks again Sir!

We always just build it inside the coop.so it helped heat the insulated coop at the same time. Then we would just cover the hole and use a waterer in the yard spring to fall.

Groovy Baby 10-4 Nice Show

Great video. I subscribed. I wonder if you could rig up a solar panel with an engine heating pad or heat tape that you’d put on pipes. If the temp ever got below 40 in that water, the heat tape would automatically kick on. I love learning these old skills. What you showed requires no panels, batteries or anything like that and it’s completely passive. I think that’s awesome. Thanks for the info.

Thanks for sharing!

Great idea! So glad to see this father and son project.

I love how the chicken drank from the pan on the ground, that you just broke the ice layer on, instead of from the water in the box XD

Bit of extra wood you could just build a small little house over it. Probably cost you like 25 bucks. Could use a bit more straw to keep it even more insulated. Or build it inside? Next to the coop? My Grandpa's coop has polycarb roofing and it acts as a greenhouse, but this definitely would help too.

I'd have used spray foam to keep critters from living in wood frame but that stuff is expensive. I'd put handles on it by making holes in the rim and pieces of rope to ease removal for cleaning. Great vid!

Very interesting project! Looks like you've used every available option in the construction process to ensure you get optimum results. Was going to suggest restricting how much surface area was exposed, but you beat me to it. You've obviously put a lot of thought into a solution for frozen chicken water. I've read that adding a bit of apple cider vinegar and/or molasses to watering pans will prevent complete freeze up as these items have a lower freeze point. Water may turn slushy, but remains drinkable. In the coldest parts of your winter, you could lower a thermometer on a string into the hole, put the pan back in place, then return an hour later and retrieve the thermometer. Would be interesting to know the difference between temperature at bottom of hole and outside air temperature. Just a thought. :)

Cool idea, kind of like the thermal homes & greenhouses 👍👍

Great video!

Wow , how cool of an idea. Sweet sharing brother. Enjoyed watching this. 😅👊💪✌️⚒️⚒️⚒️⚒️🇺🇸

Looks like that's a Summer job. 😄

Bless your heart ! Thanks guys I’m going to do this for a well on my property too!

Great job! Simple and effective! What a great find that~ Cheers to many more Blissful moments!

Well, I never thought I'd see one again after my dad died in 2003. God how I miss him! Here we are, 2024, and I do believe in watching a man raising other men. You rock mister! Presently living in a town where the laws don't allow chickens 😮 and the world going to shit right before my 57 year old eyes, but if I had them, they'd have water, for sure. You raising men is most impressive. I'm dying to see your other videos. Lost all my men recently, all home again with the Lord. Keep those videos coming. You made me smile 😃 with your sunshine.

I’m very impressed

Nice design.

I wish I found this information before my ground froze but I definitely will do that for the next winter. Thanks for sharing

Wow, that is awesome!

So glad I happened on this channel, this info is life saving to animals and humans. Subbing.👍

Thanks for sharing and passing on the knowledge.

I have never seen a shovel head bend like that. That is one strong shovel to pop back like it did.

Never thought of using the geothermal aspect for chickens... nice job.

great tips and demo of it working!!!!

You: “We probably got an hour and a half into the whole project.” Me: “I might have it dug by winter 2024.” “Maybe.”

Thanks for the information. There is so much we have lost as a species. It is great to preserve and share..... Also, it might be good to put a mini greenhouse over this with a small chicken door... I will do something like this/what you showed in the future. I like the simple design. No worry about power outages.... I purchased 8 heater plates and ran all sorts of heavy extension cords plus a heated hose and backup battery banks. It is so complicated. Unnecessary really, with something like this in place.

Great idea.

Cool!

Good wisdom

Cool! I live in Wyoming so am not sure how this will do but I am sure gunna try it! Thanks! Good kids have a good dad! I saw a comment that suggested using a tire instead of a box, I think I’ll try both.

I've put a little molasses in water before to keep it from freezing to quick ,pluss it has some good vitamins , used it for goats one year.

Nice

Brilliant. I am impressed. If only I could get past the rocks to post hole even a two foot hole! Freezing water for the animals is a major issue for us in the South. We just do not have the skills that our northern kinsmen have.

Awesome. I'm subscribing and will be waiting for a midwinter update on how well it works. Maybe place a plastic bag over the end of your pipe before packing in the insulation to keep the straw out. You could even tape it on and cut away the opening when you're done.

Fantastic!!!! We’re getting to need this genius creation even her in South Carolina! Been in the teens this week at night! Cold!!!

Good one

Thanks! We're off-grid and just give everyone snow or chipped ice, but the sheep really aren't keen on just ice... will have to figure out our frost line and install one of these gizmos in their barn!

I think I’d put a screen over the tube to keep my curious chooks from inspecting it when I’m cleaning the bowl in the warm weather. I put a piece of dark neoprene floating on my fish ‘pond’ to give them shade and it prevents ice, so maybe just a piece of that covering 2/3 of the bowl would work. Appreciate your demo! Thank you. New sub.

I'd really like to do this but I've got major rock problems. I like the video and concept though. 👍

not word for word but saddly Your absolutely right that we need to teach the younger the old ways that are being forgoten and lost to time. i love this idea and wish i had know it when i was "managing" chickens... Thank You

Live up north. Our nites have been lows of 12. Can't wait to hear ur updates. Love this plan.

Here is one back at you, and thanks for the info and video... So... You want to thaw the surface of the grass, so you can dig into it in the deep freeze? Lay a piece of hard stryofoam insulation, at least 2" thick, but shoot for the thickest you can get, now lay it on the spot you wanna thaw and put a mason brick carefully on it, or something very heavy, and come back to the spot tomorrow. It will be thawed. I used to install satellite dishes, and had to dig post holes all yr long. Works everytime. I shovel off any snow first just to make sure. Some snow wont hurt if its too deep to clear.

What a fantastic idea thanks for this

Strong young man there

Neat! Thanks.

Awesome information, probably wouldn't have thought of this myself.

Very cool. I've seen something similar with a tire instead of the wooden box.

Been using ‘frost-free’ waterers for cattle for decades (on the backside of pond dams). Sometimes the ice still must be broken off of the surface but overall the design is good and no pipes break. It will be interesting to see how well your design works in temps well below zero this winter. I’m curious how long that straw insulation will last before worms and rain help compost that down entirely and you lose your air gap.

I stacked 3 thick cardboard Boxes together and then put the water bucket inside them plus cardboard on the top and worked very well but I like this idea

Pop a tennis ball in the bowl. It will still freeze a little bit but wont make a solid ice lid. Good for popping in water troughs for cows too. Even a peice chopped off a 4x4 .it doesn't have to rest on the bottom, best to allow it to float, but the hens won't be able to stand on the ball.(NZers tip)😄

Biggest thanks!!🤗❤️🙏

never seen that done but it sure will work. thank you

Nice!

I like this idea. I'm thinking of some screening and hardware cloth on the top that would keep debris and animals/snakes out of that hole. Thank you for the video.

Thank you for this video.

First off, as a guy who works in the soil I would search for a heavy gauge shovel that will not bend when you put some weight on it. I have had to search for them but am thankful I have a tool that can accomplish the work without me fearing I would break it. With the heavy gauge steel I can put an edge on them where I can cut schedule 40 PVC.

Very cool

What an awesome idea! Thankyou!

I'll have to try that in my Northern Minnesota coop

Great share!!!

This gave me an idea to add a few degrees to my makeshift green house. I'm thinking if I were to bury a few pipes into the ground, the earth would raise the temp slightly. Bet I could get enough change to change get an extra zone out of my greenhouse.

Brilliant

Love learning and teaching my daughter to keep the old ways.

It's great for my yard friends!

Geo thermal can provide heat for a greenhouse too but you gotta dug it out and build piping under the greenhouse then use a fan to blow the heat from the top of the greenhouse into the ground so it keeps the ground warm even on the coldest nights. And everything grows better with warm soil.

Essentially what is happening is the heat is coming up out of the Earth and going right out into the air after passing through the water. ... but.... what if you made a box at the top of the hole that retained the heat around a bucket or barrel of water... that had nipple spouts. (I keep imagining that the water, how you have it, won't stay clean for long.) it would be like a little watering house. The top can be of clear material to let the sun through. and it could be easy to open so you could fill the bucket easily from the top of the box. (I'm envisioning a big box that they can easily come and go from.... but not so big that the heat isn't retained well enough to help anything.

Great idea! Do this in June, haha.

"Grab that pick, boy. Don't be scared of it." LOL!!!

Nice video 😂

Excellent idea!!