Salt water bottles can be used to keep livestock water from freezing.
Stock tanks and water troughs in our pastures create a lot of extra work for us because they pose a dehydration risk to horses.In order to keep fresh water available to our horses at all times, we are constantly breaking and removing ice, hauling hot water from the barn, or installing costly electric systems.
Wouldn't it be great if there was an easy and inexpensive way to eliminate this burden?Good news!There are some simple #barnlifehack tricks that do a good job of keeping the water ready to drink, even in the single digits.
Compared to a lake, moving water stays liquid longer.How can we use that to our advantage?Placing large floating objects in our stock tanks is the answer.
A basketball, tennis ball, or other non-sinking object bobs and floats in the water, making it difficult for an ice skin to form over the top of the tank.There is an added benefit to cold weather.If an ice skin does form, the floating object creates a weak spot in the ice that your horse can easily break by pushing down on the ball to create a drinking hole.
Be careful that the object you use isn't giving a funny flavor to the water or scaring your horse away from drinking.If you don't see horses comfortably approaching the trough, stay with them and use treats and kind words to show them that the new floating objects are safe to drink next to.
An old cowboy trick is to fill milk jugs with salt water and put them in a stock tank.Even in the cold weather, saltwater stays liquid because it has a lower freezing point.
The water to salt mixture won't freeze until around -5 degrees.That is the cold!A bottle of saltwater can last all night in the cold.
What does this do?The scientific property of saltwater is fascinating, but it is not useful to us since horses can't drink saltwater and freshwater freezes at 32 degrees.
Does this bottle of unfrozen saltwater change the temperature in the tank water?No!The saltwater is just as cold as the freshwater.It is not true that the proximity to the saltwater keeps the freshwater from freezing.Horses can push the bottle down with their nose to break a hole in the iced over tank if the floating bottle agitates the surface.
Is the myth busted?The saltwater bottle works well to prevent stock tanks from icing over, but not necessarily because of the salt.It works the same way as any floating object would.Horses are more difficult to remove a partially filled bottle from the tank than a lighter bottle.
The sides of our water tanks can bensulating to keep them warmer.How does this work?The principle of conduction allows heat to be lost from your horses water.There is a transfer of heat energy from the warmer substance to the cooler one.The air is cooler than the water at night.
The material of the stock tank is touched by the air on the side walls.The heat goes between the water and the walls of the tank.Some materials are more flexible than others.Plastic stock tanks freeze more slowly than metal ones.
To prevent this type of heat loss through the sides of your water vessel, you can insulate it.There are buckets for sale.You can either wrap the tank in foam, bury it in dirt, or use large tires filled with spray foam to surround it.The tire and foam materials are not very strong and the black tires are very warm in the sun.
There is nothing a horse can get trapped in or easily ingest if you insulate it.Don't drink too much!
It's the same principle as putting on a hat to keep the heat out of your head.If you want to prevent heat loss from your horse's water, you can use a floating piece of foam the size and shape of your vessel, which insulates the surface of the water from direct contact with the air.
The water flows over the top of the foam when the horse pushes his nose on it.Some foam water covers have a bowl shape in the top that water pools in for easy drinking.If you are making your own, be sure to use a stronger structural foam that is difficult to damage.As your horse plays with the water, you don't want him to ingest bits of styrofoam or other material.
Alright, technically, this is just two low-tech methods for keeping your horse's water available to him in freezing conditions.If you want to prevent ice from skinning over, you can either use a floating object or insulate your water.There are many ways to accomplish your goals, so be creative and have fun designing your own #barnlifehack that will keep your horse watered and your chore list short.