Idea's on winter water barrel and valve.

[gerold]

Putting water in pig shed. Running water underground to the shed. In the corner of the building putting 55 gal. metal barrel. Barrel will be approx.4-
8 inch. from floor. installing monoflo nipple drinker in the bottom of the
barrel. The valve clear the side of the barrel by around 4 inch. The barrel
will be insulated and boxed in so it won't be pushed around. Its gets very
cold here in the winter. That part of the building with the water will be insulated.
The door for the hogs to come in will have opening in the bottom half of the
door to allow them to come and go. On really cold days there will be a small elec. heater to go on when temp. dips below 32 inside. At night the opening in
door will be closed as the hogs will not use it at night. The shed is 9ft.x12ft.x
7ft.ceiling height. Half the shed will be used feed storage. Still have to make
the doors for this shed.

Any infor. added to this plan will be appreciated.

Another plan would be elevate the barrel and let the water drip into a stable
pan below and forget about the water nipple valve. With the pan below 2 or 3 hogs could drink at the same time. This is what i have setup now outside and it works very well except in winter it would freeze up.

Any other idea's on a winter water plan is appreciated.

Best,
Gerold.

[agmantoo]

Gerold

If you were to put a heater made for a large aquarium in the barrel I doubt that the unit would ever freeze. Aquarium heaters have thermostats and can be set to meet various temps. In the plumbing between the tank and the nipple water, if there is any, you can take a length of the poly (flex) tubing sold at Lowes and heat each end and clamp the ends shut. Then insert the tube inside the plumbing to the nipple. Should the supply line freeze, the inside poly tube with the trapped air inside will contract and the supply line should not burst.

[gerold]

Originally Posted by agmantoo

Gerold

If you were to put a heater made for a large aquarium in the barrel I doubt that the unit would ever freeze. Aquarium heaters have thermostats and can be set to meet various temps. In the plumbing between the tank and the nipple water, if there is any, you can take a length of the poly (flex) tubing sold at Lowes and heat each end and clamp the ends shut. Then insert the tube inside the plumbing to the nipple. Should the supply line freeze, the inside poly tube with the trapped air inside will contract and the supply line should not burst.

Thanks for the reply. Using all metal in this setup. Two 2 inch. nipples,one 90degree ell, and one Nipple drinker. All at the bottom of the barrel. There
will be a board insert between the Nipple valve and the rest of the barrel and
pipe. The Nipple will be the only thing exposed to the air inside the building.
I may put a drop ceiling in to make that area where the water is more air tight.

[highlands]

We do the opposite. We put the barrels down into the ground where they can gain heat from the earth. We enclose the waterers in micro-climate areas that block the wind, lean-toos and such. Water flows continuously down the mountain from our springs from one barrel to the next at a slow trickle. The animals drink out of the tops of the barrels. We have very cold winters and this works well. Nipple waterers and static water barrels freeze up fast here. Nipple waterers also tend to plug up in my experience. When they work they're great but I end up fixing them too often.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa

[gerold]

Originally Posted by highlands

We do the opposite. We put the barrels down into the ground where they can gain heat from the earth. We enclose the waterers in micro-climate areas that block the wind, lean-toos and such. Water flows continuously down the mountain from our springs from one barrel to the next at a slow trickle. The animals drink out of the tops of the barrels. We have very cold winters and this works well. Nipple waterers and static water barrels freeze up fast here. Nipple waterers also tend to plug up in my experience. When they work they're great but I end up fixing them too often.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa

Thanks for the reply Walter.
The water valve works ok out side. The pigs use it and also the other setup i have with a barrel raised and dripping water into pan below.
The one with the valve i will move inside the shed were it is heated and won't freeze for winter use and when the little ones come. I may take the valve out if it cause a problem and just use a large pan instead.

Like you said the barrel outside will freeze in the winter. I installed an outdoors upright water faucet were i feed the hogs. It drains down when not in use so won't freeze up. They have fresh water daily i will just disconnect the barrel setup and use direct water from the faucet.

Also have 3 ponds in each section where i let the hogs graze. I can keep
a hole in the ice in winter when ponds freeze over. This for back up use.

Best,
Gerold.

[Welshmom]

Hi, Gerold.
I use a barrel/nipple setup similar to yours in my barn. I doubt you get colder than we do here in Wisconsin
It seldom freezes cold enough (below 20 for a while) to freeze the barrel of water inside the barn. If you have a heater going in there, I don't think you need to worry.
I do have a stock tank heater that I use during the coldest weather, often don't need to run it constantly, just for a few hours now and then. To thaw frozen nipples, I just pour a bit of warm water on them and work them a bit. Pigs do the rest.

[gerold]

Originally Posted by Welshmom

Hi, Gerold.
I use a barrel/nipple setup similar to yours in my barn. I doubt you get colder than we do here in Wisconsin
It seldom freezes cold enough (below 20 for a while) to freeze the barrel of water inside the barn. If you have a heater going in there, I don't think you need to worry.
I do have a stock tank heater that I use during the coldest weather, often don't need to run it constantly, just for a few hours now and then. To thaw frozen nipples, I just pour a bit of warm water on them and work them a bit. Pigs do the rest.

Thanks for the reply. I think i have things setup ok now.

[Rusty'sDog]

First, I have to agree with Walter. A buried tank has a natural insulation...less area exposed to the air temps. Once the pigs know that is where the water is, they will 'root' their way through even an inch or two of ice on the surface to get to the water. Nipples can be tricky enough in warm weather...forget them when the temps drop below freezing (one ice crystal can literally drain the entire tank INTO their living quarters).

Second, why a 7 foot ceiling? For a winter home, I would think possibly 3' on one end, and 4' on the other end. The less cubic feet, the warmer their body heat will keep the enclosure. You want enough room for them to stand and stretch in part of the hut, but in winter time, they will most likely spend most of their time laying on their sides sleeping/napping. They would prefer the warmest, coziest corner for napping. If this is a summer/winter hut, I would think putting in a winter drop ceiling for the entire structure. The warmer it is, the less calories (feed) they need to 'maintain'.

[gerold]

Originally Posted by Rusty'sDog

First, I have to agree with Walter. A buried tank has a natural insulation...less area exposed to the air temps. Once the pigs know that is where the water is, they will 'root' their way through even an inch or two of ice on the surface to get to the water. Nipples can be tricky enough in warm weather...forget them when the temps drop below freezing (one ice crystal can literally drain the entire tank INTO their living quarters).

Second, why a 7 foot ceiling? For a winter home, I would think possibly 3' on one end, and 4' on the other end. The less cubic feet, the warmer their body heat will keep the enclosure. You want enough room for them to stand and stretch in part of the hut, but in winter time, they will most likely spend most of their time laying on their sides sleeping/napping. They would prefer the warmest, coziest corner for napping. If this is a summer/winter hut, I would think putting in a winter drop ceiling for the entire structure. The warmer it is, the less calories (feed) they need to 'maintain'.

Thanks for the good idea's. The water valve nipple is getting fairly dirty and i think that is going to give me more trouble this winter. So i think i may have to use big pan below the 55 gal. barrel for water. I have two other buildings that are approx. 4ft.and 5ft. ceiling that will house 2 sows each for farrowing. The building i am working on now is for farrowing and also for working on the little pigs when they come. Two parts to the building. Two doors in the front where the pigs can come and go from inside the pasture. 4ft door on other side where i can go in from the outside of the pig pasture. There is a fence connected to the building on each side of the building where the 2 doors are that is open to the pig pasture.

I cut up all my own lumber with small sawmill i have. Making all the doors myself. Got the 4ft. door made and installed. What is going to be fun is making the two 3ft. doors with opening on the bottom for the pigs to come and go.

Putting the barrels under ground is good idea. The problem i have with that is how would i clean out the bottom of the barrel when it gets a lot of dirt in it?
The pans i use now for water, i cut from the bottom of 55 gal. barrels. Making them about 8 inches deep. About once a week i dump them and hose them out. I have 3 steel post spaced around the pan with gravel around the sides to keep the hogs from out of pan and to keep hogs from turning pan over.

I put the building and the water barrel on the fence line. So i can do all the work from outside the pasture.

Thanks again for all the ideas and advice all are giving. Pigs are due in late Jan. and Feb.