Broken Heat Lamp Bulb

[pkarkos]

Hello,
Today one of my hens broke the heat lamp bulb in the coup when she jumped down from the roost. Luckily, I was right outside the coup so I was able to unplug the lamp and remove the glass pieces as quickly as I could. But the chickens, being curious creatures, started pecking the glass before I was able to get them all out. I don't know if they actually ate them but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this?

Thank you!

 

[21hens-incharge]

As to them eating some? No.

As to heat lamps in the coop? Yikes!

Every year we read about coops burned down and flocks lost from heat lamps.

I will ask as others surely would also....
Why are you using a heat lamp in the coop?
Where are you located?
What are the temps where you are?
How was it secured?
What breeds of chickens do you keep?

Those are standard questions that pop up so I figured I would get them out of the way.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/topic-of-the-week-coop-heating-and-fire-safety.1211386/

This is a good thread to read.

A few years ago we had a member lose an entire barn, chickens and I believe livestock.

 

[pkarkos]

As to them eating some? No.

As to heat lamps in the coop? Yikes!

Every year we read about coops burned down and flocks lost from heat lamps.

I will ask as others surely would also....
Why are you using a heat lamp in the coop?
Where are you located?
What are the temps where you are?
How was it secured?
What breeds of chickens do you keep?

Those are standard questions that pop up so I figured I would get them out of the way.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/topic-of-the-week-coop-heating-and-fire-safety.1211386/

This is a good thread to read.

A few years ago we had a member lose an entire barn, chickens and I believe livestock.

I know it is a risk to heat the coup but we have never had a problem with fire but we have had trouble with cold. It is often in the single digits where my home is now and it will soon be getting below zero at night. I also have a mixed flock of some younger birds who are still rather sensitive to cold. The lamp is clipped to a bar that goes across one side of the coop. I have the lamp directed only at one half of the coop so the birds can get out of the heat if they are cold, but they rarely do.
At the moment I don't have a bulb in there at all so I am a bit more worried about the potential glass eating than I am about something I have not ever had trouble with for years. Does anyone else think that it is possible they just peck at the glass in interest rather than to eat it? They are quite well fed.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Excellent post from @21hens-incharge. Those are the questions that come to my mind when I hear about someone trying to heat a building for adult hens.
Besides all the other reasons not to heat a coop, it is quite expensive to try to heat one with heat lamps. Makes the already expensive hobby of keeping chickens even more so.

If one absolutely must and does have a good reason to put some sort of heat element in the coop, a ceramic heat emitter is much safer in that, in the unlikely event it would break, there are no shards of glass.
They cost slightly more than glass ones but are more reliable, last longer and don't emit light which disrupts chickens ability to get good sleep. They should have a good 8 hours of darkness.

 

[pkarkos]

Excellent post from @21hens-incharge. Those are the questions that come to my mind when I hear about someone trying to heat a building for adult hens.
Besides all the other reasons not to heat a coop, it is quite expensive to try to heat one with heat lamps. Makes the already expensive hobby of keeping chickens even more so.

If one absolutely must and does have a good reason to put some sort of heat element in the coop, a ceramic heat emitter is much safer in that in the unlikely event it would break, there are no shards of glass.
They cost slightly more than glass ones but are more reliable, last longer and don't emit light which disrupts chickens ability to get good sleep.

Thank you for the suggestion. I have never heard of a ceramic heat emitter but I will look into it.
But my current worry is the glass, which I imagine is a problem the ceramic one would eliminate. Has anyone seen chickens pecking at inedible objects without eating them?

 

[21hens-incharge]

My birds often explore non edibles by pecking. I have seen mine peck dots on planters, specks on rocks, a bug on a stick plastic decoration in a pot a zip tie that broke and was on the ground, all without eating bits.


Was the glass in tiny shards or larger pieces?
If larger bits I would not worry.

 

[pkarkos]

My birds often explore non edibles by pecking. I have seen mine peck dots on planters, specks on rocks, a bug on a stick plastic decoration in a pot a zip tie that broke and was on the ground, all without eating bits.


Was the glass in tiny shards or larger pieces?
If larger bits I would not worry.

There were mostly larger pieces but the smaller ones reflected the light more and therefore I think they were more interesting. I have been checking on them often to check for anything unusual. Are there any signs I should look for? Is there anything I should give them or not give them?

 

[21hens-incharge]

I don't think there is anything that can be done really. If they ate some it would be in their crop. Hopefully they have enough grit in there to grind it up.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I would think if there was a problem from it the first symptom would be not eating.

 

[pkarkos]

Okay, thank you all so much. I will keep an eye on my birds and look into getting a ceramic heater to prevent this from happening again.