- Mar 6, 2011
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I haven't been here in a long time. Forgive me if this has already been covered...
On Friday, I went to Tractor Supply to pick up a bag of scratch grain. I use it as treats for my flock of OEGBs.
Well, it's that time of year... I ended up walking out with a bag of starter feed, a bail of pine shavings, and four Pekin Duck hatchlings. (I've had ducks before, and really enjoy them.) I got them home, dragged out the old chick feeders and waterers, and set up a brooder in the spare bathtub. My reflector didn't have a bulb in it, so I stuck a 60 watt in it, and quickly ran up to Ace Hardware to get some bigger bulbs. Because of the light bulb fiasco going on in the US, there isn't a wide range of incandescent bulbs available these days. I ended up with a couple 100 watt, "rough service worklights." About five minutes after turning the light on, one of the ducklings started acting funny. Then it collapsed and just laid there, breathing hard. I didn't understand what was happening, and then a second one started acting the same way. "THE BULB!", I realized. (These have some kind of coating on them to prevent breakage.) My wife and I scooped up all four babies and took them to fresh air in another room. The two that had collapsed slowly died in the palms of our hands... I felt so bad.
Two days later, the other two seem to be fine. I think they were further away as the bulb heated up... or they're just a couple of tough little quackers.
I don't know what the coating is on these bulbs. Teflon is very toxic to birds. It's either that, or something just as bad.
On Friday, I went to Tractor Supply to pick up a bag of scratch grain. I use it as treats for my flock of OEGBs.
Well, it's that time of year... I ended up walking out with a bag of starter feed, a bail of pine shavings, and four Pekin Duck hatchlings. (I've had ducks before, and really enjoy them.) I got them home, dragged out the old chick feeders and waterers, and set up a brooder in the spare bathtub. My reflector didn't have a bulb in it, so I stuck a 60 watt in it, and quickly ran up to Ace Hardware to get some bigger bulbs. Because of the light bulb fiasco going on in the US, there isn't a wide range of incandescent bulbs available these days. I ended up with a couple 100 watt, "rough service worklights." About five minutes after turning the light on, one of the ducklings started acting funny. Then it collapsed and just laid there, breathing hard. I didn't understand what was happening, and then a second one started acting the same way. "THE BULB!", I realized. (These have some kind of coating on them to prevent breakage.) My wife and I scooped up all four babies and took them to fresh air in another room. The two that had collapsed slowly died in the palms of our hands... I felt so bad.
Two days later, the other two seem to be fine. I think they were further away as the bulb heated up... or they're just a couple of tough little quackers.
I don't know what the coating is on these bulbs. Teflon is very toxic to birds. It's either that, or something just as bad.