Winter watering?

Hi all, I am wondering what methods are being used to keep water liquid in the winter months.
Thanks, Tom

There are heated water bottles and small heated dog bowls. For small to moderate amount of individual cages these can work. Automatic water systems that remain heated can be setup for large numbers of cages. In larger cages you can do rubber livestock feeders that just get refilled a few times a day. Since they are flexible the ice can just be popped out of them. For groups/colonies larger heated dog bowls can be used or I'm thinking of using my poultry waterers which can be set on heater bases. The chicken forums also have a variety of homemade heater devices to go under waterers. If you google the cookie tin heater you might find it. It's a light bulb put under a tin to disperse the heat and protect the waterer from burn/melt.

A lot depends on how many rabbits you're trying to keep watered as well. If you just have a few, having two bottles per cage is one way. Bring the frozen bottles in to thaw, take warm bottles out - repeat as necessary.

Otherwise, sturdy crocks. I buy cheap plastic dishes at the dollar store and thrift store. If they have a bit of flex and are wider at the top than the bottom, it's easy enough to pop the ice out. And if they break, oh well!

I just don't like the idea of electric cords near sharp little teeth. :|

Hi, Tom, and welcome to RabbitTalk! :hi:

Here's a thread from last winter about cold weather solutions to the watering problem.

frozen-fingers-frozen-water-a-couple-of-tips-t160.html

I have two bowls for each cage. I detest using water-bowls
but what else can you do in the winter months.
I water two to three times a day. I have a few extra large bowls
that I use for the Dams with kits or the weaned youngsters.
I still have the water bottles on the cages for those
strangely warm days in the winter when they can be used.
Dennis, C.V.R.

I use water bottles year round don't normally have an issue with them freezing if they do I just run hot water over them.

The problem with water-bottles in the colder months is:
Though the water in the bottle may not be frozen,
the metal nozzle tends to freeze up in a few minutes
making it impossible for the rabbit to drink the water
though it may appear that there is plenty of water to be had.
This is why I resort to water-bowls.
Dennis, C.V.R.

My rabbitry is heated in the winter albeit only enough so it doesn't go below freezing unless it drops below -30*
Frozen water water bottles rarely happen with it, but I always make sure to check water levels in the bottle if they don't change it's the first clue that something is wrong with either the rabbit or the bottle.

Water freezing is exactly what drove me to using metal water crocks the first time around, and it's what I will use this time around, as well.

Automatic watering systems and heaters for the same are a great idea if your rabbitry is indoors,, but can and often do become very problematic when they're outdoors.

I just gave warm to hot water when the temps were below freezing. The rabbits pretty much knew to eat the ice when it froze over, but they definitely appreciated having warm water to drink when I came around.

Thank you all for your in put, we only have two does and Buck Owens. I found submersible bird bath heaters, so I'll find crocks 9" to fit. Being new to rabbit raising, I sure appreciate this community site and the wealth of shared knowledge; we've raised chickens for years and have found lots of help on a site called "poultry one" now we can contribute. We only raise happy animals, so it's nice to have help with that.
Tom

I had 2 bottles per cage. I would put one in the cage in the morning, then replace it with another one at night. The ones from the morning were brought inside to thaw and then refilled. In the morning I would replace the overnight bottles with the thawed ones.

This way I always had a bottle in the cage and one in the house thawing. I also put small crocks in the cages in case the buns got REALLY thirsty and the bottle had frozen - they could just lick the ice out of the crock.

Another thing you can do is fill the crock with snow.

Eating Snow and licking ice
provides little to no water due to the fact that the Rabbit
must work so hard to get the little bit of water it does from such things.
The Rabbit burns more calories getting that water than the water provides.
I prefer to use Bowls and fill them twice or three times per day.
I use very warm water and once I have filled all the bowls
I start around again before going into my hose for my breakfast, lunch or dinner.
I just love the colder winter months!
Dennis, C.V.R.

Snow and ice really aren't worth much water. One bad ice storm we lost power for a week which meant with our well setup it was not possible to get water out of it. No electricity, no well pump, and no access to it. For humans and small critters that was not such a big deal. Grab some 5gallon refillable water containers and go get water at $.25 a gallon for a week. However we had 8 horses at the time. Luckily it was just warm and sunny enough that our black stock tank could melt what was put in it. I found out first hand just how much snow and ice it takes to make water. I cleared 2' down in a 100' arc around that tank before I was done. I'd fill it up in the morning packing it down as I want and by the time it melted I had about 1/4th of the tank. Just enough for the horses to get one good drink in before it had to be done again. That was with the horses also eating their own snow and ice. They spent majority of the day eating snow in order to digest their hay properly.

I've had no problems with electric water buckets and so forth around critters. Most come with a cord protector and then just put the bowl right at the edge of the cage, the bottle on the outside of the cage, or remove a board from the stall and shift them all so the cord can go directly out the gap. So long as you pay attention to where cords run in comparison to what your animal can reach and make sure everything is fastened down well it's really not an issue.

Since I detested dealing with frozen water crocks as a child, I plan on taking my 2 does into the recroom/laundry room for the worst part of winter. It'll also allow for lots of extra exercise and cuddles
Perhaps in a year or 2 I'll consider getting water heaters.