Here Comes Winter and the Deicer Breaks!

We are finally expecting some real winter weather this weekend - we are under a winter storm warning with 5-7 inches of blowing and drifting snow expected and then a light icing over that.

 What a lousy time for the water trough deicer to give up the ghost!

Thursday when I visited Abby I discovered that it had quit. I could also see that Tim knew - clearly he had broken the ice so that the horses could drink.

Thinking fast, I knew it needed to be replaced, and with the storm looming, it would be best to get that done as soon as possible - Tim checks the horses daily, but who wants to be repairing or installing a deicer (or worse, chopping ice a couple of times a day) in bad weather?

I figured that this was something I could help with - after all, Tim trims Abby's hooves for free, gives her her shots, and does a host of other things for me without charge; this was something I could do for him. I texted him and he confirmed that the current deicer was only working sporadically, and agreed to let me purchase another one.

After doing a lot of research online for deicers, the next day I went to Tractor Supply (checking out the Breyers that were there, too, naturally!) and bought one.

Tim had said that he was comfortable with whatever I chose, so I looked for one that deiced the whole trough, not just partially and only leaving some open water. With five horses who usually drink 2-3 at a time, my preference was that they could continue to do so instead of wrangling around each other, nipping and arguing over who got to drink when.

I looked at wattage, I looked at sinkers versus floaters, the size of troughs each was made for, the material of the trough it was designed for (rubber, plastic, metal), cord length, automatic thermostats, etc.

Finally I settled on a 1500 watt sinker that would keep the entire trough ice-free even in sub-zero temperatures (which happens most Indiana winters), and had good reviews.

I texted Tim that I had it, and put it on his workbench in the new barn.

Then I walked out to check the ice on the trough and saw this!

Working sporadically indeed! The old deicer had kicked back in and thawed the horses' water overnight!

With a winter storm on the horizon, Tim is still going to replace the old one with the new one. I don't know if he will keep the old one for emergencies since it does work sporadically or if he will just pitch it.

The important thing is that the herd will have water available as winter finally returns to Indiana.