If it weren’t for heated water buckets my horse would be dead 4 times over by now.
It stays plugged in 24/7 from November to march, and overnight October and April, except when being cleaned. I then refill with warm water to kickstart the process and so my horse doesn’t have to wait for the water to warm to drink.
Reality is that anytime you do add more of any kind of electric equipment, especially high wattage equipment, it WILL increase the odds of fire. This is also true of trough heaters running through the barn power.
Luckily, in NoVA, horses were all healthy with me breaking/scooping trough ice and smashing ice out of buckets.
I have two things to say. First of all, as the BM, it is your job to see the big picture and enforce what is best and safest for ALL the horses and what ensures the survival of your business/facility for the long term. So don’t ever feel bad about taking the helm and saying “no,” even when sometimes it seems like a conflict with customer desires.
Secondly, as a BO/BM, the degree to which people anthropomorphize their horses is at times amusing and harmless, at times an inconvenience, and at times something which actually endangers the welfare of the animals. It’s really tough for me as a BO when a pink and hairless person who needs to wear long underwear and a down jacket when the temps drop assumes that their plump and plushly furred QH is suffering similarly and wraps them in blankets until they sweat.
If horses were truly endangered by cold weather and iced over water sources, there would be horses dying right and left all winter in places like Canada and the western U.S. People would probably stop keeping horses in those areas due to the difficulty of keeping them if colic rates exploded every time water froze. In fact, the reverse is true. Horses thrive in places like Canada and out West. And I would venture to estimate that proportionately few of these horses have heated water sources 24/7. The truth is, horses are very adept at breaking ice or breathing/licking holes through ice to get to fresh water underneath. They also are adept at drinking larger quantities fewer times per day if circumstances require.
I agree that horses do prefer warm water, however, I think that assuming that horses are endangered by cold temperatures and freezing water is simply not true for the vast majority of horses. Turnout and forage amount/quality are more important factors in colic prevention.
Now, mind you, if you have a sick, elderly, or otherwise fragile horse, I can understand the potential need for that animal to be offered warmed water to entice it to drink. However, in most cases (IMO) heated water buckets are more of a convenience for barn staff as they prevent the need to break ice out of buckets, which is a real PITA.
I think that outdoor heated automatic waterers are a gift from the heavens as they provide horses with fresh water 24/7 with no need to break ice and a lessened worry about barn staff forgetting to water livestock. If you can afford them, indoor auto waterers are also great.
But I think that leaving unnecessary electrical appliances turned on overnight in a barn environment is a mistake.
Thermostatically controlled and on sale at TSC;
http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/allied-precision-heated-flatback-bucket-5-gal?cm_vc=IOPDP1
I run the power cords through 2 inch tubing to the grounded plug.
OMG Equibrit!!! That exact bucket just cost me more than 2x that price 3 weeks ago! Gah, living in Canada sucks sometimes!
BeeHoney, take a look at the Horse care titled “Ideas, please…” MIght change your mind about how well horses thrive in Canada
I used heated water buckets when I leased a place (and redid the electrical myself), but most boarding barns don’t allow them. Current barn will, but you pay $10/mo to use one that you provide.
I had good luck w/ mine. But they were in good repair. I’m a bit more nervous as a boarder knowing that anyone can provide whatever they happened to pick up on the cheap not thinking about the risk…
I have electric buckets in the stalls and a large heater in the trough outside the barn. Once, when we let the trough water level get too low, the large heater melted a chunk out of the trough, so apparently could have kept going, burning the adjacent wood siding on the barn if, say, it had occurred while we were out of town… that said, the set up always seemed redundantly safe because they aren’t locked in the stalls, but rather have free access to the pasture. Food for thought…do they have a safe exit?
I keep mine out 95% of the time so the safety risk is minimal.
However, I did have a horse die of colic once that was very possibly related to frozen water so to say “horses have lived for thousands of years with icy buckets” doesn’t alter that it can still happen.
That tragic tale: mare always was tough to get to drink when water was cold. Her intake noticeably went down. we hit a cold spell with subzero temps – as you do, we gave the horses more hay. She ate all the hay, drank next to no water, and ended up dying on the surgery table because her stomach ruptured.
That was a long time ago when buckets were brand new, but we’ve used heated buckets ever since and never had another cold-weather colic.
I might not bother if I lived in Lexington, either, though. Where I live, I took my Diet Coke out two days ago and it was frozen solid by the time I was done feeding. In those temps you might as well go back to hand-watering twice a day like they did in the old days – or use heated buckets.
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I’m so sorry, fordtraktor.
That’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid, not to mention my horse isn’t a surgical candidate anyway.
Well said, Fordtraktor.
The other morning I came out to find my trough de-icer had died over night. The 100gallon trough was well iced over. I broke thru the ice and installed a new de-icer. An hour later, even with a functioning de-icer working hard to get the trough back up to a reasonable above freezing temperature, the trough was well frozen again. I broke thru the ice right before I left for work and kept my fingers crossed that things thawed quickly enough that everyone drank enough during the day. (I came home to a trough of water that was down plenty so I know everyone did fine once the de-icer caught up.)
If your horses are used to drinking their fill when water is offered I see no issue with going with that theory. I know people who do that all year and they have no issues with it.
My horses eat a lot of hay in the winter and drink a lot of water as they eat. They are not trained to drink their fill when water is offered and having dealt with impaction colic that took way too long to resolve last winter, I am not risking that.
Canadian here. We spend a lot of money heating water to make sure our animals survive.
If you’ve got certain types of natural water in the pasture, or a deep dugout, you MIGHT not have to use heat or other methods. We have sustained weeks of temperatires below -20C. Yes, horses often thrive. As long as they have water and forage. Wildies die every winter when cut off from water.
I’ve got three hardy beasts (the hothouse flower lives elsewhere) and I spend a lot of time and money ensuring their water supply.
That was @beehoney.
I’ve had a heated bucket operating 3 winters now outside. It’s for the dogs. It’s much tougher than I thought. I agree with using a proper extension cord, and regularly inspect the electrical components. Just toss it if any part is looking worn. So far no wear on ours. The bucket is going to give out before the electrical.
I’ve had horses chew through the cords on floating trough heaters. That was a surprise…could have been a fire risk in a dry barn, I suppose. We changed how we set up the water, there’s no way she could get it again. Just a thing to look out for. The same horse is very curious and likes to play with buckets too. If you can prevent them accessing the electrical part, that would improve the safety.
Had a call with my dad after I sent him the one Equibrit posted. He said in our barn, with no extension cords (unless short, heavy duty 14/3) he would view them as safe.
We may be in KY, but last week our buckets froze over in the stalls when it was low 20s/teens for 48h so I do worry about water consumption (esp in horses not used to long term cold temps and with the temp fluctuations we had here).
I have a small private barn with only 3 boarders so I told them they can use them but they have to be checked for any problems and they are only to be used in extremely low temps when the barn doesn’t get above freezing. Thus should minimize risk as there are only a few days where this would happen. One girl has an older bucket, and she happily agreed to replace it with a new one
Fordtraktor, so sorry for the loss of your mare.
I’m not trying to tell anyone what they should do, only to point out another perspective. I intended to quote the previous poster who said that s/he would “never want her horse to have to break ice.” While everyone is entitled to their opinion, unless you have a special needs horse, I think that is a very anthropomorphic view.
Rugbygirl, I have great respect for you and other people who manage livestock in extreme cold weather climates. It takes a lot of work and a lot of management expertise. Watering livestock in consistently below freezing temps is not an easy task. However, I don’t think that the post you reference in the Horse Care forum is particularly applicable to this situation–that is a horse that colics repetitively despite very optimal care and heated water. It sounds to me like that horse has a colic problem that is unrelated to living in Canada. I don’t think anyone would argue with the need for a horse like that to have heated water.
I also don’t think you can compare a horse going 6-8 hours overnight with a water bucket with a crust of ice on it in 20 degree weather to wild horses that are dying because they are completely cut off from water in the Canadian wilderness.
Personally, I think that for most healthy horses cold temperatures and buckets or tanks freezing over at night are, in general, not a big deal, obviously as long as you or your workers show up in the morning to provide fresh water (and BTW the worker showing up at a reasonable time is a really important part of the equation).
FWIW, I want to repeat that if you have a older or fragile horse or one with a known issue, customized care might be necessary. Also, I think it is important to keep in mind that keeping horses inside stalls to “keep them from getting cold” is also a significant cause of colic. Maintaining normal turnout schedules as much as possible during frigid winter weather helps prevent colic as moving around helps gut motility.
Back to the electric buckets–I would argue that if you want 24/7 heated water in the barn, the safest way to provide that would be to install individual heated auto waterers in each stall. While losing a horse to colic is tragic, a barn fire is a tragedy on a much larger scale.
I understand, BeeHoney- I grew up, with horses, in Northern Ontario. I know what breaking ice is, and in all the years I lived there I never had a single colic, surprising given what we know about winter,cold water and decreased water consumption.
Now I live in a rain forest, and my horse tries to die if it gets around freezing!
BeeHoney - I don’t ever want my horse to have to break ice to get to water because he’s never had to before. I wouldn’t expect him to “know how” to break ice and have the drive to do so unless he was really thirsty. If he were that thirsty, health might be compromised at that point (I’ve dealt with a late winter impaction colic).
If I had a horse that I know had been raised in a manner that taught this sort of skill or reinforced the instinct, I probably would be fine expecting him to break ice. However, my horse is a long, long way removed from his wild instincts.
[QUOTE=BeeHoney;8983298]
Back to the electric buckets–I would argue that if you want 24/7 heated water in the barn, the safest way to provide that would be to install individual heated auto waterers in each stall. While losing a horse to colic is tragic, a barn fire is a tragedy on a much larger scale.[/QUOTE]
Why are you OK with the electric and heating element in an auto waterer but not OK with a properly maintained heated bucket?
[QUOTE=ktm_here;8979155]
we use them here and we barely saw temperatures above 0 for the last week. My 2 live in/out and the buckets freeze if not heated. They are big drinkers and usually will polish of a bucket overnight (even having a trough outside the stalls). The buckets are designed to turn on at a certain temperature and turn off as well. I have never felt an empty bucket feel warm. Hope that helps![/QUOTE]
I have had the buckets be empty and still heating. I also use the 16 gallon heated tub which I like better and it seems to turn on and off better than my bucket. Thankfully I use them outside and only during the day when it is below freezing. Which isn’t every day.
Trubandloki, I am neither an electrician nor a fire marshall, so all I have to offer is my own common-sense type thoughts, for whatever they are worth, might not be much!
A properly installed heated auto waterer is a permanent installation specifically designed to withstand the rigors of a barn environment and abuse from horses. The heating element is contained inside the waterer, which has a shell of non-flammable materials, so even if the heating element/thermostat failed, those elements are securely enclosed away from flammable bedding or walls (whereas the plastic casing of a heated bucket could easily melt).
Wiring is also an issue for fires, and for the stall auto waterers that I am familiar with there is no exposed cord anywhere. Because heated auto waterers are often a professional installation involving an electrician, I think there is greater security that the barn electrical system is adequate for the job.
I own some of those plastic heated water buckets (I don’t generally use them in the barn), and IME they not indestructible. I have had plastic crack, cords get chewed through and plugs break. While most horses don’t bother their water buckets, it’s not unheard of for a horse to rub/sit on it’s water bucket, get cast next to their water bucket, or even get a halter caught on a bucket hinge and rip a bucket off the wall.Of course, those things happen fairly infrequently, but I’m also pretty sure that none of us who work in barns have ever been shocked to arrive at the barn in the morning and find a bucket that has been bent up or cracked overnight somehow. While I think it is good that an electrician would say the buckets are reasonably safe, I also think that an electrician may not have a full view of exactly how inventively or unpredictably destructive horses are capable of being.
Actually BeeHoney my dad ran through those scenarios (ie cord chewing. Etc) and said watch for them as they will make the buckets unsafe.
Not his first barn he’s wired 
