How to Prevent a Hose for Animal Watering From Freezing

Providing livestock fresh water daily is a crucial task that provides hydration for each animal and ensures survival. Livestock owners and caregivers find the task harder in winter. Nature freezes the hose, and the cold weather already makes other tasks more difficult. An uncooperative hose takes up a large part of the morning, depending on the size of the herd. A frozen hose decreases productivity, forcing the use of buckets to haul water to stalls and pens. Prevention is necessary, because once a hose freezes, it remains frozen until a heat source gradually thaws it.

Things You'll Need

  • Hose
  • Insulation
  • Tape
  • Warm location (varies with your setup)
  • Garbage can
  • Scissors
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Instructions

  1. Insulation

    • 1

      Assess your hose. A traditional garden hose works well during the summer, but in winter the trusty garden hose freezes quickly. Choose a black rubber hose from a gardening or home improvement store.

    • 2

      Prepare your spigot by removing the hose and identifying any exposed pipe.

    • 3

      Create a hole for the spigot in the bottom of an old plastic garbage can. Make sure the garbage can covers the pipe, but leaves the spigot uncovered. Remove the garbage can.

    • 4

      Wrap insulation around the exposed pipe and replace the garbage can.

    • 5

      Use the hose normally. The covering of exposed pipes should create no change in how the hose is used.

    Removing Hose

    • 6

      Remove the hose after use in cooler weather, stretching the hose out on a sun-warmed area, careful to leave no kinks or loops in the hose. This technique works well when the temperature rises above 35 degrees F during the day.

    • 7

      Remove the hose after use. Place hose in a warm, dry location such as a heated car between uses. Repeat until weather warms.

    • 8

      Wrap insulation around hose from one end of the hose to the other, halting just below the metal couplings (the metal ends). Follow with tape such as duct tape.

    • 9

      Stretch out the hose and leave it running slightly. Make sure the resulting puddle is away from walkways. This works best before the weather drops below freezing.