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winter watering

I have a deer farm in the mountains of Central Pa and I ran water and power to my pens. I really didn't want to have to break ice everyday just to give my deer water so I went to Tractor Supply spent $39.00 and bought a heated bucket.Let me tell you this thing works, it was 19 degrees with about a 10 below windchill here a day or so ago and my water did not freeze and the deer loved it.The bucket is made so the heater is sandwiched between 2 layers of plastic in the bottom of the bucket and there is no chance of the deer getting jolted.I was really skeptical about this bucket after seeing it but after going thru that cold and it didn't freeze, it made me a believer. It also keeps the snow melted about 3 inches around the entire bucket.
 
I too live in PA ...those buckets are great ...but don't let them freeze they will crack...and check them the bottom inside gets weak after some use but I get a good winter to 3 winters if you take care of them I will take a picture of an old one to show the cracks.I love them for fawns.
 
Thanks for the info painted, I will keep an eye out for those cracks. I figured at $39.00 I couldn't go wrong and I know someday when my herd is alot bigger I will need some other method but this seems to work for now.Thanks
 
I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned the video on this topic by Roger listed in our Cervid Farming Resources. The direct link is: here
 
My two cents....I have had deer for over 20 years now and in northern Iowa we get lots of cold and snow. Over the years I have carried water (I have no watering system for the deer) and when the snow came and the water freezes soon after I place it for them, they eat snow. I have watched wild deer while hunting that are not over 50 yards from the open river eating snow to satisfy their thirsts so I know eating it is not a problem for them. I like to water my deer if at all possible but when they drink their water every day til it snows then most all of it just freezes after the snow comes even though the temps are the same , I know that they are too lazy to walk over for a drink . Yes they will drink some but I can see no difference in how they look , or turn out as far as horns ,fawns ,ect from eating snow or drinking water that now it up to my choice if I water or not. I do til the snow gets so deep that carrying water is too hard for me. Works for me. Jim
 
Watering your animals year round, in my opinion , is a good farming practice. Deer can survive without it, but in most cases, watering is a fairly easy task. a 250 watt tank heater is cheap to run on a 10 gal. tank provided you have water supply close.



Last year one of my brothers had a faulty tank heater (1500 watt submersable) which caused the water to become electric. He didn't notice it for a while, but did notice his deer weren't drinking any water at all. He pailed water each day to the tank , so it was easy to keep track of the water consumption. One day he touched the water and realized it had a small charge to it and figured it out. After fixing it, his deer still would not touch the water for the entire winter.They ate snow instead(we seem to have plenty of that stuff in northern MN each year). His deer looked fine in the spring and eventually started trusting the water tank again.

The point is, deer are disigned to withstand extreme environments and survive with very little. The beauty of deer farming is, we can provide more than their natural environment can,especially during the harsh winters. why water deer? why not?
 

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