Hi Yvonne
I have seen hogs licking ice, but not crunching it. But they probably wouldn’t get much water that way. But is there somewhere, maybe in a corner near the house, where it might be less likely to freeze. Or if you have a feeding box, put some in there. It might keep the frost off it a bit longer. I have heard of people putting ping pong balls in to float around, but haven’t tried that myself, so not sure how well it works. I would put new water out before you go to bed. If you just break the ice, it might re-freeze more quickly. Then hopefully if the hogs visit fairly early, they will have a chance of a drink.
I would be a bit worried if their poo is runny all this time. I wonder if it would be worth checking again with the wildlife centre.
The hogs, surprisingly don’t seem to mind the cold that much. Two different winters I have had hogs here who didn’t hibernate. In both cases the only days they missed visiting were when the snow was too deep for them. Luckily it only lasted a few days. They did tend to go in and have naps in boxes between naps (so perhaps a chance to warm up as well) – one hog had built a lovely nest in one box and spent some, though not all days there.
