[Elcie]

Could you use the same suggestion that is around for ponds?  Putting a ping pong ball in the water is supposed to slow/stop the freezing as it bobs around stopping the water from staying still and therefore less likely to freeze. 

[Caralou]

I'm going to make a little bubble wrap tea cosy to put over the container.

Exactly what I did on dad's suggestion and it works really well. For the pools for the ducks I have been filling with warm water so it last longer, but even then it managed to refreeze this afternoon. I've put a ball on there tonight to see if it stops it and will let you know in the morning 

[hillfooter]

Warm/hot water freezes quicker than cold water!

Bit of an old wives tale that I'm afraid   It's never really been proved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mpemba_effect

Yes I've heard this story too and I can't really see why hot water should freeze "quicker".  I think what is actually mean't is that it might freeze at a higher temperature (rather than quicker) which I can just about understand if the hot water in question was hard and had been previously boiled.  If so it will be slightly more pure having lost some of its calcium carb and other minerals and water with impurities will freeze at a lower temp so as the temp falls the boiled water will freeze first.  However it's pretty academic as generally lagging warm water is a rather futile exercise as it's only going to be effective on occasions when the temperature just dips into freezing.  The lagging would have to be pretty excessive to prevent the water freezing in a hard overnight frost.

In any case freezing water's only a problem in the day and the best way to keep it from freezing is to make a "tea cosy" with black polythene and expose it to the sun.  THe heat it absorbs will help to keep it liquid.  Take in your drinkers at night or replace them each morning with fresh as francais suggests.  You can use heaters such as aquarium heats run off batteries but unless it's a real problem to get running water it's not worth the hassle.

I'd be a bit wary about using glycerine as it's supposed to be a laxative so it might not be so good for your chx digestion.  Also never use deicer or antifreeze which is very toxic.
HF

[beulah59]

I'm trying adding glycerine to the water today .. I'll tell you in the morning!

nah! No good!!

[ehs284]

Have left the connected water in its frozen state and put a much smaller bowl of water out heated by an aquarium heater. Whilst I've power to the shed, if you have a battery and an inverter then one charge should last a fair while. Of course, when the power goes off on Christmas day, you'll have to choose between family TV or water for chooks.

[karlooben]

i have only had my outside water tough freeze over so far , the water in the house has been ok so far  but judging by my girls today they really dont mind a bit of ice  one found a small peice of it and was running around like she had a worm with all the girls chasing her for a peice of this ice  it was so funny ,

i do need to know one thing and theres a specail reason for it how can i stop my pond freezing over ??
the reason i need to know theres something in there that could get me on tv in the new year thats all i am saying 

[janet12000]

I tried the ping pong ball in the water method.
Ducks just thought.....'wow, a new toy!' and pulled it out of the water to play with.

Cleaned out the run this morning which was a mission. It was so cold! 
Normally just scoop all the mess up with a shovel and chuck it on the compost. The mess was frozen solid and it took me ages!!!

We haven't even got snow really here, just pointless cold weather. 

[ehs284]

Karlooben - are you sure that you should stop it freezing? If something needs to come to the surface to breathe then obviously yes, but generally the metabolism of submerged life slows and they can tolerate lower oxygen levels. The ice stops gas exchange, but also slows the cooling of the pond and turbulence so that the bottom stays relatively stable. Breaking ice can cause shock waves which injure some lifeforms. Ideas such as balls or planks are not to stop it freezing. They allow for the expansion as the ice is formed and so relieve the pressure on (e.g.) pool walls. Agitation will constantly break up and mix very thin ice for a while and absolutely still water can be supercooled but in reality if you have below freezing temperatures for a few days then it will freeze whatever you do. HTH

[joyfull]

I know what it is  nah nah na na nah 

[karlooben]

do ya joy 

[joyfull]

yes you told me last week 

[hillfooter]

i have only had my outside water tough freeze over so far , the water in the house has been ok so far  but judging by my girls today they really dont mind a bit of ice  one found a small peice of it and was running around like she had a worm with all the girls chasing her for a peice of this ice  it was so funny ,

i do need to know one thing and theres a specail reason for it how can i stop my pond freezing over ??
the reason i need to know theres something in there that could get me on tv in the new year thats all i am saying 

It's not the Loch Ness monster is it?

It helps if you can agitate the water and bobbing floats can help if there's a breeze.  Rather than ping pong balls which hardly displace any water you should use 2 Litre mineral water bottles part filled with sand or gravel so they float upright.  If you want them to relieve the pressure on the sides also you MUST use a filling which is denser than water.   Using water itself as the filler won't work as the idea is to provide some elasticity at the water surface for any ice which forms to squeeze.  Ultimately as ehs says prolonged below freezing temps will eventually free the water no matter what you do short of heating it.

HF

[JayG]

Agree 100% about the weighted pop bottles. Would also add that if your pond is stocked with fish it is quite important to maintain a small opening in the ice for the exchange of gases; if it completely freezes over pour hot water around your floating bottle to creat a hole (do not hit the ice with a hammer; you will distress or even kill your fish!)

If the freeze continues and the ice gets really thick it is a good idea to siphon off an inch or so of water to create an insulating air pocket (the ice should hold itself up). This is especially important if your pond is less than the recommended 2 feet depth. 

[grumpydad]

have just bought another water container, so i can just keep swapping them over, seemed the easiest option.

they will only have one instead of 2, but i dont think they are drinking much at the moment anyway

[karlooben]

it is not the loch ness monster  guys i will say more after Christmas  .

p.s my pond  is only one of those little plastic shell sand pits for kids so it isnt very deep so i dont know if the bottle idea would work .
 my girls have one of those plastic water drinkers in the house all the time so each morning an afternoon i just take a 2 litre plastic bottle an use that to refill  i have the main water tap right outside the run but its pretty much frozen right now .