How To Keep Goat Water From Freezing Without Electricity (Explained!)

 

As a goat owner, you’re responsible for keeping your herd safe, happy, and healthy year-round.

Winters can be an especially difficult time, as the extreme weather conditions present many challenges to navigate.

One such challenge is keeping your goats’ drinking water from freezing.

Goat enclosures (and their water sources) are often located near a pasture far away from helpful resources like electricity for tank heaters.

Keep reading to learn more about how to keep goat water from freezing without electricity.

 

Do goats drink water in the winter?

Yes, goats need water in the winter, though they will typically drink less than they do in the hot summer months.

Goats should be adequately hydrated year-round to maintain normal body functions like salivation, sweating, urination, and blood production.

 

Do goats need warm water in the winter?

No, the water doesn’t necessarily have to be warm, though heating the water to a comfortable temperature will entice the goats to drink it.

It will also slightly prolong the amount of time it would usually take the water to freeze, but not by much.

Otherwise, room temperature or slightly chilled water is fine for your goats to drink.

 

What do goats drink water out of?

Goats will drink from just about any source that meets a few conditions: the water should be fresh, presented in clean containers, and easily accessible.

Acceptable containers include things like buckets, livestock troughs, galvanized bins, and large rubber tanks.

Your goat may also drink from natural sources of fresh water like creeks, streams, and ponds.

It’s important to make sure that your goats are able to approach the water easily and without the risk of falling into the water.

If the source poses this risk, it’s possible that your goat could drown when attempting to drink, so keep your herd safe by fencing off hazardous waterways.

 

Additives to keep goat water from freezing

Some farmers swear that adding molasses to their goats’ water will keep it from freezing because molasses doesn’t freeze as easily as water.

While this may be true, molasses is usually diluted in your goats’ drinking water to a ratio that wouldn’t make much of a difference in the freezing point of the water.

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t add the molasses, though!

Adding molasses will attract your goats to the water, and their constant drinking will disturb the surface enough that it shouldn’t freeze as quickly, if at all.

 

Insulation to keep goat water from freezing

You can also insulate your goats’ water container to prevent freezing.

There are lots of options that can easily be DIY’d and require only a few low- or no-cost materials.

One method of insulation is to slightly bury your water source.

The ground retains heat much better than water and shielding the container from wind or direct contact with freezing air can keep it from turning to ice.

Similarly, you can mound earth up around the container to help insulate exposed sides.

You can also stack hay bales or wrap old tires around your water tanks for protection from the elements.

Rubber and hay are great insulators and should help your tanks stay above freezing temperatures.

If you don’t have hay bales on hand but have lots of loose material, you can stack one water container inside a larger empty tub and use the hay to insulate the space between.

If you can’t do either of these, at least make sure your tub has full sun exposure, as this may help warm the surface and delay freezing.

 

Agitation to keep goat water from freezing

You can also add floating objects to keep your tank from freezing.

Floating objects disturb the surface and slowly circulate around the container to keep water from freezing.

Water can’t freeze as easily if it’s moving.

Make sure objects are not a choking hazard to goats: large partially-filled plastic jugs, rubber balls, etc., are fine and should work well.

When using plastic jugs or bottles, it’s highly recommended to use salt water in the jug instead of regular water.

Saltwater has a lower freezing point than water.

Using salt water ensures that the jug won’t freeze into the top layer of ice as quickly as it typically would.

Periodically check to make sure the floating object actually remains in the tub.

Goats may get bored in the winter and may be feeling especially curious or mischievous, and may push or pull your makeshift buoys out of the container, effectively rendering your solution useless.

 

What should I do if my goats’ water freezes?

Try to catch it early–If you catch it fast enough, it may be only frozen in the top few inches.

Use a heavy object like a hammer or a shovel to break it into large chunks and carefully remove all of the pieces.

Add fresh water to replace the volume that was lost to the ice and try another method to keep the water from freezing again.

On the other hand, if you’ve caught it too late and the whole tub is frozen through, drop what you’re doing and immediately work to make water accessible to your goats.

It may have been a while since your herd was able to drink.

At this point, your goats are at serious risk of dehydration.

 

What are the signs of dehydration in goats?

Dehydration can be a serious problem for a goat.

 

Another sure-fire way to detect if a goat may be dehydrated is to perform a pinch test. Pinch the skin on the goat’s neck or back to see how quickly it goes back to normal.

 

If it goes back to normal within a second or two, they’re probably not dehydrated.

 

However, if the skin is slow to return to normal and holds the pinched shape for a few moments, you should contact a veterinarian right away. This is a sign of severe dehydration and your goat needs immediate medical attention.

 

Prevent dehydration by making sure your goats have adequate access to water. Use the tips outlined in this article to keep your goats hydrated by making sure their water remains unfrozen.