With more icy cold weather hitting just after Christmas, water, which is usually more than abundant around the farm, has become a scarce commodity. While most of the faucets at the barn are frost-proof, the automatic watering for the pigs and the chickens does freeze when temperatures stay cold for more than a day or two. Fortunately, the outdoor water sources for the horses and cows had only a thin layer of ice that they were easily able to break through to get a drink. Here are the horses in the loafing yard, just after being let out of the barn in the morning, heading for the small stream and pool that supplies their water during the winter months.
I think in the last issue or the one before it, Mother Earth News had a how-to on building a solar warmed water trough to help keep them from freezing. It looked pretty simple and I'd build one if it froze here. I'm sure it's on their website if you're interested.
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