Heat lamp exploded overnight

So.. I'm done with heat lamps. My chicks are now almost 4 weeks old and out in their fully secured coop. I'm in Florida and it's been in the 80s during the day, but at night I still turn on the heat lamp because it can get pretty cool at night. This morning, I walked out to find that the heat lamp was off... until I realized that it was off because the bulb had completely exploded. How? I have no clue!

Luckily, all of the chicks had avoided the broken pieces but I had quite a mess to clean up this morning. All of that aside, what else can I do to provide heat during the night for the chicks? I've seen the heating pad method but that seems like it's more for chicks that are still in a brooder.

a heating pad will work if they get cold they can lay around or on it, usually heat lamps don't blow that often was it by water, close enough a chick could splash it?

It shouldn't be from water. Is hasn't rained at all and their water container is clear on the other side of the coop, but I honestly don't know. I was worried about the dangers of heat lamps and burning things down, but never exploding, lol!

With a heating pad, wouldn't that be a bad idea if a chick pecked through the plastic protective layer of the pad? That kind of worries me.

their beaks aren't sharp enough to puncture the rubber on the wire.

Come on over to this thread and learn how to set up a Mama Heating Pad (MHP)!! Super simple!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ooder-picture-heavy-update/4830#post_16803808

Perfectly safe, they won't peck to get to the heating element...

Ask anything, the nice folks over there will help. I hope everyone is okay!!

Ours fell down on our box and caught fire. I came home to a smoky house and terrified birds. Luckily I got the fire out and no one was injured

I was done with them too!!! last year dust got on my bulb and started smoldering! I finally invested in the Brinsea Ecoglow 20 Chick brooder. it's far less expensive than the heat lamp or pad to run. it CANNOT catch anything on fire, burn you, or your chicks.it's height adjusts as the chicks grow and it's easily cleaned. Brinsea makes good products that you can trust. no more fussing with temperatures either. Brinsea works much like the mother hen and the heating pad concept but provides a different type of heat that the heating pad. The brinsea provides a Radiant heat much like the sun shine does. I saw they make two sizes the 20 chick and 50 chick. if your brooding more than 10 at a time I might get the larger one. it has a two year full warentee .I am only brooding 10 so the small 20 chick is fine for me. Right now Online Wayfair has a sale on them 10% off fast shipping check it out!! I got mine in two days! most feed stores carry them as well. The smaller ones are about 85 dollars. They have came down in price a lot from what they used to be. it's just a safe alternative to the lamp. hope this helps and best wishes

redjeepchick said:

Ours fell down on our box and caught fire.

I came home to a smoky house and terrified birds. Luckily I got the fire out and no one was injured

Click to expand...

Same here. No fire, thank goodness, just a box corner burnt to ash and a smoke filled garage. I cannot believe not one chick was even singed!

I have a heating pad on order from Amazon right now.

Actually the Brinsea Eco Glow and the heating pad both use far less than a heat lamp. <shudder> I just prefer the heating pad because it's softer, more like Mama Hen, and that's what I'm trying to replicate. I can put a towel on top of it, drape part of the towel down over the front so they have to hunker down a little bit to get under it, just like Mama Hen,and I've raised chicks outdoors in temps in the teens and twenties. It's dark under there, and that equals security to them. The cave shape holds the heat in, so they do great even after a power outage, like my week olds did last year.

But there are people who prefer either the Brinsea or @aart 's Pseudo Heat Plate (and I'm ashamed of myself but I mess up the name of that every single time!) and that's just great!! To me what the alternative heat source is is far less important than getting those dangerous lamps out of our homes, coops, garages and sheds! They don't have to fall into the bedding to cause a problem - down, dust and dander can gather on them and cause a fire! Older, almost feathered out chicks have been known to fly into them and their feathers go up like POOF! Water splashes on the bulb and they can explode - and they can do that anyway even with NO water splashed on them. They can offgas Teflon if they are coated bulbs. They don't just warm the chicks - they heat everything around them - the walls, the floors, the brooders, the feeders, the waterers (and the water), the air, curtains.....if it's in the area, it's getting warm! But feed stores don't sell heating pads or Brinsea's or any other alternative - they sell chicks and heat lamps, with little cardboard brooder kits. GRRRRRR

I'm glad that your chicks were okay, but I'm sure sorry you had such a difficult mess to clean up! We read too many of these stories every spring, and then again in winter when folks heat their coops with them!

Edited to add: If you are in Florida with highs in the 80s during the day, it probably isn't getting that cold at night. 60s? Maybe 50s? They should be fine with those temps as long as they are out of the wind and dry but if it makes you feel better you could put an incandescent light in there for a day or two. They'll huddle - they not only don't have their "night light" but they don't like any changes in their environment so they huddle both for security and to get a little warmer. My chicks are totally off heat and integrated with the adults in the flock by 4 weeks, and they have their couple of days of hanging tight too! If you toss something strange in a coop with the adults, what do they do? They run to one side, stand together in a band, and stare at it. Chicks are no different!

This makes me feel a lot better. I'm surprised that heating lamps are still the "go to" option in feed stores. There are SO many hazards and it doesn't seem worth it. I may pick up one of those eco glow if we ever decide to expand the flock in the future, but since these girls are almost acclimated to the outdoor temps, I think they wouldn't use it long enough, maybe a few days max.

The temps here are quickly rising (ugh!) and the lowest low for the next few days is 51, but I honestly doubt it'll get that low. Our temps are going up to the high 80s-90 next week and lows in the mid 60s. So, if I can get them through this week, I think they'll be okay. Our lows seem cold to me, but I'm a Floridian, haha!

I put out a heating pad last night and they seemed to like that. I checked on them before I went to bed and they were all huddled together on top of it. Unfortunately the heating pad was off when I went out this morning. I couldn't figure out why, so I pulled out the box and instruction manual and sure enough, it has an auto shut off feature that powers it off after two hours for safety purposes. I felt so bad... but the chicks are fine and happy as ever, so maybe it's not as cold as I thought.