Are crocks all that bad? Any one better than the others?

Cold weather is coming, and we've had a few nights/mornings below freezing already - so far the water bottles have not froze, but it's just a matter of time. I just got my rabbits the end of January of this year and only had 3 at the time so my cold weather management was relatively minimal. Now I have 10 adults and 18 babies (potentially more to come soon). It's not quite as feasible to haul all the frozen waterbottles in to thaw and refill (not to mention the rabbits are further out back now as well). I was thinking crocks might work OK, but when i did a search I kept seeing a common theme - how awful they were and how much people hated them :x . I have seen some of the metal ones that attach to the cage with a lip that pokes out for easy refilling which would solve a number of the complaints... but I am thinking metal isn't the best option for winter. I saw one person post about getting rubber ones (which I am contemplating for the dogs, cats and chickens already - I am sure my wallet will cry a bit with that purchase), but that makes the dumping, soiling, moving around issue a problem again.

I don't have a barn, just stand alone hutches and a 3 sided shed with a few hanging cages so heating isn't an option. I have coverage on 3 sides of the hutches and am going to set something up to drape over the fronts for some added protection, although the bottom would still be open.

I use ceramic crocks year round (from Tractor Supply, about $4ish each). I haven't had any problems. In winter, I change out their water two or three times a day. I just put out new ones and bring in the frozen ones to thaw.

When I have a doe with kits, I add a larger plastic bowl for water and a metal dog bowl for pellets and have had no issues with those except for the occasional kit who sits in the feed bowl and soils it.

That was me that uses the rubber ones from Tractor Supply .... I looked and cant find them on the website but they weren't very expensive at all. Would have posted a link for you ....

To be honest , I think they are easier than water bottles .... I can walk by with a hose and fill them in seconds rather than having to remove each one and fill / replace. They don't have a lid or threads for junk to accumulate and are simple to clean , take them out and throw them in the dishwasher .... no leaky lids or nipples either.

The one problem I did have early on was rabbits moving them around and dumping them out .... they didn't like where they were. Rabbit housekeeping 101. So I devised a way to affix them to the cage floor that was easily removable .... simply make a loop just large enough for the bowl with a coat hangar and twist it tight from beneath. They cant move it and its still easy for you to remove quickly.

I really don't understand why people are so adamantly against crocks .... so much more convenient than bottles. Sure a watering system is ideal .... but they cost quite a bit and they can freeze up too. If these freeze , I dump the ice block on the ground and refill .... rubber doesn't break in the cold temps either.
I suppose cage space is part of that discussion .... but I don't have issues there with 24x30 , 36x30 & 96x48 pens. If you have smaller cages , it could be a concern.

Marinea":2getoxkc said:

When I have a doe with kits, I add a larger plastic bowl for water and a metal dog bowl for pellets and have had no issues with those except for the occasional kit who sits in the feed bowl and soils it.

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I use Bass Feed Saver feeders to combat that and "digging". (buy them in bulk or the shipping will be outrageous).

I use the plastic ones that clip to the cage year round. In our frozen winters, I head out twice a day and pour hot water over the ice. If they fill too much I bring them in to thaw.

Whew! OK, already feeling a bit better about using them. I will admit, watering is my least favorite part of keeping rabbits. I dread filling each waterbottle everyday. It's not like it's a huge deal, or takes that much time, but it's just one of those annoying chores (like dishes or the laundry). DH just hooked the hoses together and ran them out to the back so I could water newly planted fruit trees... the main line is black so hopefully that will keep it functional through most of the winter - I just need to make it a habit to unhook it each time. I am embarrassed to admit how many spigots we have had to replace because of that one silly oversight. I was just taking a 1 gallon pitcher out to refill, but they are using more like two gallons now so I started taking a 5 gallon bucket out instead and dip from it. I can continue that for the winter without an issue.

I've posted this before, so apologies to those who may be tired of reading it.

When I had rabbits in cages (as opposed to in a colony) I bought those plastic food containers, the square ones that sell 2/$1 at Dollarama. They hold about 16 oz. of water. I used two for each cage.

One I pierced with an ice pick near the rim and on the base. I wired it through the holes in the rim to the cage wall. This served as a holder. The hole in the base provided drainage for drips and spills. A second box fit inside and this liner is what held the water.

On mornings when everything had frozen solid overnight, I was very grateful for this system. I'd take a bucket of hot water down to the rabbitry. I opened the first cage, lifted out the frozen food box (liner) and floated it in the bucket. I filled the grain dish and put in hay. By this time the ice block had unmoulded could be dumped out. I scooped up warm water and replaced the liner in the holder. Closed the cage and I was done.

The plastic boxes took quite a long time to freeze to the point where the rabbits could not get a drink. In extreme cold, I made three trips a day, but for most of the winter, morning and late afternoon was enough. I know a lot of people prefer water bottles, but just wanted to post this as a cheap and easy alternative. You do need to have a few extra liners on hand in case of breakage, but if you are at all careful, breakages are few.

MaggieJ":2rp3ah7p said:

I've posted this before, so apologies to those who may be tired of reading it.

When I had rabbits in cages (as opposed to in a colony) I bought those plastic food containers, the square ones that sell 2/$1 at Dollarama. They hold about 16 oz. of water. I used two for each cage.

One I pierced with an ice pick near the rim and on the base. I wired it through the holes in the rim to the cage wall. This served as a holder. The hole in the base provided drainage for drips and spills. A second box fit inside and this liner is what held the water.

On mornings when everything had frozen solid overnight, I was very grateful for this system. I'd take a bucket of hot water down to the rabbitry. I opened the first cage, lifted out the frozen food box (liner) and floated it in the bucket. I filled the grain dish and put in hay. By this time the ice block had unmoulded could be dumped out. I scooped up warm water and replaced the liner in the holder. Closed the cage and I was done.

The plastic boxes took quite a long time to freeze to the point where the rabbits could not get a drink. In extreme cold, I made three trips a day, but for most of the winter, morning and late afternoon was enough. I know a lot of people prefer water bottles, but just wanted to post this as a cheap and easy alternative. You do need to have a few extra liners on hand in case of breakage, but if you are at all careful, breakages are few.

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Thanks for the idea! I haven't been around long enough to have read it anywhere... I tried the $1 dog/cat food dishes that another person recommended, but they break too easily for winter use I think. 16 oz. is about what I would need.... I have 32 oz. bottles now and most go halfway down each day with the growouts draining the full 32 oz. at least once a day (at one point I had 2 32 oz. bottles in one cage and had to refill them at least once every 24 hours).

I was asking a while ago,and I seem to be falling into the suggestion below:
Go out with a bucket of hot water, put the frozen crocks in it, when the ice pops out, use the hot/warm water to fill the crock and put it back.
I have been grabbing soup crocks and similar heavy dishes at thrift stores.

(I have been using bottles inthe warm weather but they freeze quickly already!)

There are some water bowls around, that are plastic and have a diamond pattern on the side. Kind of translucent. I love those bowls. One tap and the ice just pops out of them, and they rarely break in the winter. I get them at Specks pet supply in Indiana, but I don't know where else you can buy them. I just love those things. Found them on line on amazon just do a search for translucent crocks.

I went to the dollar store and found rectangle 3C containers - 3/$1. I figured that would be the cheapest route to try, and if it doesn't work, I can repurpose them for something else. Going to get a few rigged up with wire and install them tomorrow to see how they do. Any risk for kits drowning in something like that? Or are they strong and able enough to climb out once they are able to climb in?

TF3":229n6nyr said:

I was asking a while ago,and I seem to be falling into the suggestion below:
Go out with a bucket of hot water, put the frozen crocks in it, when the ice pops out, use the hot/warm water to fill the crock and put it back.
I have been grabbing soup crocks and similar heavy dishes at thrift stores.

(I have been using bottles inthe warm weather but they freeze quickly already!)

Click to expand...

This is similar to what we do. But, we go out with warm, not hot water because there has been breakage with those TSC crocks when we put a 20 or 30 below crock into it. Another thing we have done is to buy twice the crocks and bring in the cold ones.

Zinnia":njl0io2w said:

TF3":njl0io2w said:

I was asking a while ago,and I seem to be falling into the suggestion below:
Go out with a bucket of hot water, put the frozen crocks in it, when the ice pops out, use the hot/warm water to fill the crock and put it back.
I have been grabbing soup crocks and similar heavy dishes at thrift stores.

(I have been using bottles inthe warm weather but they freeze quickly already!)

Click to expand...

This is similar to what we do. But, we go out with warm, not hot water because there has been breakage with those TSC crocks when we put a 20 or 30 below crock into it. Another thing we have done is to buy twice the crocks and bring in the cold ones.

Click to expand...

I am hoping if the super cheap option works I can have enough to have a couple sets for that purpose. I made sure the sides were sloped so that maybe there would be a chance for it to just pop out. I guess I could always do a test run in the freezer

We did a test run in a freezer with success. But guess what. Our winter temps dropped lower than the freezer. We don't use sloped sided crocks because we couldn't find any inexpensive enough and the TSC ones were handy. They do great in all temps, even frozen solid right down to about zero. Below that, some break and others are fine... down to 30 below, when many would break if we didn't have a back-up plan. Back-up plan has been snow in the crocks on just those few super-sub-zero nights. It works.

Zinnia":33xvru95 said:

We did a test run in a freezer with success. But guess what. Our winter temps dropped lower than the freezer. We don't use sloped sided crocks because we couldn't find any inexpensive enough and the TSC ones were handy. They do great in all temps, even frozen solid right down to about zero. Below that, some break and others are fine... down to 30 below, when many would break if we didn't have a back-up plan. Back-up plan has been snow in the crocks on just those few super-sub-zero nights. It works.

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Brrr! We don't get that cold. The last two winters we have dealt with some single digits, but that's relatively rare for us. We get below freezing off and on at night and sometimes through the day, but it snows very little generally. Some years we will only see a dusting or two, other years we'll get a few inches or more several times, or even ice storms. We are almost always right on the border of snow/ice/rain when systems come through.

Good to know, Zinnia~ makes sense (re breakage).
Dang.
I may have to find some options... since we can spend a month or more at -30 to -40,.
Probably just a full second set of crocks!

TF3":nxhy9bll said:

Good to know, Zinnia~ makes sense (re breakage).
Dang.
I may have to find some options... since we can spend a month or more at -30 to -40,.
Probably just a full second set of crocks!

Click to expand...

Those rubber ones from TS wont crack or break .... For some reason I recall them being ~$3 or so each.

I remembered yesterday that the lady I got the hutches from also had some oven mitts she repurposed for covering water bottles and she said it worked well in our mild winters.

I will say, I am really liking the ease of filling crocks! I just open up the hutches and walk by with a 1 gallon pitcher. A couple need to be rinsed b/c of the hair from the nest box, but even with that it's far far less labor intensive. I never did much with them b/c they would knock them over and not have any water, but securing one bowl to the cage, with another resting in it is working well. They have pulled out the inner one a time or two, but that was within the first day or two. Today they were all still where they should be. The hanging cages can be filled from the outside. It will make it easier for the kids to help as well - they couldn't get the lids off of the bottles, nor could they fill the smaller opening without spilling a huge amount. Overall it's a pretty big win! The only downside at this point is remember to go out twice instead of just once, but I should probably be doing that anyway

Dollar Tree $1 each. In the dog/cat section.

2-1/2" x 6" ceramic. We use these as food bowls, but they could also be used for water.

Price can't be beat!

jimmywalt":1txlpuyg said:

Dollar Tree $1 each. In the dog/cat section.

2-1/2" x 6" ceramic. We use these as food bowls, but they could also be used for water.

Price can't be beat!

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I didn't see those at our Dollar Tree, just the plastic-y ones that have the sloped sides... they seem to break rather easily for what they were.

jimmywalt":k14en6h1 said:

Dollar Tree $1 each. In the dog/cat section.

2-1/2" x 6" ceramic. We use these as food bowls, but they could also be used for water.

Price can't be beat!

Click to expand...

Nice! But can they flip them?

I am toying with the idea of glue gunning a ceramic crock to a piece of plywood with a larger base...maybe 2'-3' larger all around. I am thinking that if the rabbit is close enough to flip the crock then the weight of their feet on the base will prevent this.