BROODER HEAT LAMP SAFETY REMINDER! Show us your SAFE set-up!

[Lotsapaints]

You really can't see how it's tied in there but I use hay twine tied to the stall bar and the cord is wrapped around a different bar I don't use clamps they come undone.

Here is my other brooder Ohio hoover type and it has a switch to turn the light on and off when it is hot in the daytime

 

[mountaintopchicken]

Brooder lamps scare the heck out of me. I've always used multiple attachments to whatever they are hanging from. Usually I use thick fencing wire. But I never rested easy during brooding season. This year i have sworn off brooding in the house entirely. Can't take the worry.

 

[foxinachickenhouse]

I'm so glad I saw those ceramic bulb things! Thanks for posting that, what a great idea. Will use those next time. Plus the chicks can get used to natural light cycles and not be scared of the dark the 1st time you turn the lamp off.
We set our lamp up over a stock tank brooder. We used wire to fasten it via both the loop and the clamp to a 2x2 which spanned sawhorses placed on either side of the tank. To raise it I just put the sawhorses up on blocks of scrap lumber. It worked great and was very sturdy. Didn't have any worries about fire. Maybe I'm naive. I also covered the brooder pen with a piece of wire fencing just in case the lamp fell and since we have cats.

 

[Beckyinma]

THis is our brooder we made yesterday, after having our days old chicks in a sterilite
container, that was far too small for them to get much bigger in. We attached the bridge for the brooder lamp to the sides of the brooder, it has an eye hook for the lamp chain, no clamp, and another cup hook on the outside edge holding the cord out of the way, so the lamp stays straight. I can raise and lower the chain as needed. It's a vast improvement over having the plastic bin on a couple of stools, and the lamp hanging off the garage door frame. The white light lamp clamps on, and is only on during the day as it stays pretty dark in the garage, even for daytime. just turned it off and said goodnight to the chickies. They sure are cute.

Peterborough, NH, that stinks... right around the corner from us..

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Yay for unfinished basements. The one with the big chain is suspended over an I-beam. The smaller chain one is suspended in a hook that's been sunk into a ceiling beam. Both chains are attached to the light with multiple zip ties. The squeeze clamp is just stuck on the chain to make it hang straight down.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Quote:
Mine is only painted white, not a cool pink color like Lotsapaints! But it works great. They're way overkill for small numbers of chicks, but if you've got twenty five or more they are an excellent design.

My brooder box is in an open bay of my workshop so for those times when I'm brooding chicks in below freezing weather I have had as much as two 250w IR bulbs in that hover. That was an unusual cold, rainy spell with day old chicks though. Normally in the winter time I'll have one 250w IR and a frosted 125w white to start then down to a 125 and a 100 then two 60s before taking it out altogether. I'm seriouly considering installing a rheostat (dimmer switch) if I can find one that can handle the wattage so that I don't have to keep changing the bulbs. Winter time here in Florida can range from low teens to high eighties.

 

[Lotsapaints]

Hey that was my 4.00 paint from OSH I made a turquoise one for my turkeys....I'm considering getting those reptile ceramic bulbs to replace the lights I like the 5,000 hr lifetime on them and no light that way they get used to the daylight....but I have lights on timers in my barn because of my horses...16hrs a day if my husband had a shop like yours I don't think I could put chickens in it-turkeys maybe LOL

 

[pinkpoppey]

I haven't set up the light yet, but I plan to hang it by it's cord and a chain (or rope) to my garage door track support beam. Is that a good plan? How far up should the light be?
My brooder is a simple storage tub with chicken wire on top to keep animals out. I clamped pieces of wood to the edges of the wire so it is weighted down. I don't have pics though. Just picture a plastic tub with old rusyish chicken wire over it and scrap wood clamped to the overhanging wire. Can't wait till the chicks come home!

 

[Lotsapaints]

Quote:
It just needs to be adjustable to regulate the temps chain is better than rope 2 ties are better it seems high to me but then I'm not very tall....don't like ladders much either

 

[somedayfarms]

So here is my dog crate brooder. Its 3ft by 2.5 ft
I used rain gutter guard along the bottom a few zip ties.
It keeps the little ones from sticking their little heads in the house cats mouth.
.
My hover light is a 6 gallon metal bucket "Mama" with a light socket. I am using a 60 watt
bulb and getting 110F hung about 4in above the floor at center of beam. You can't see well in picture
but its hung from a small chain. (Never suspend light from the cord)


My water bottles are the cheap bicycle bottles from walmart with
a nipple drilled into the end. I am really in love with the idea of no
messy water and hope this works as well as it does in my mind.

Day old fresh out of the HovaBator with the 60watt bulb and the bucket hung at this height
about 24 is all I would want to do. But I could raise everything and add a 100watt and heat a few more.
The bedding is firewood pellets. There are no nasty chemicals its absolutely the same pellet process as horse bedding.
We have a couple companies here local that make both.


This bucket could fall tip etc and no part of it would be hot enough
to be a fire risk. That a huge important factor for me because the first few days
are going to be inside where the 4yr old son and the cat can watch them.

I had some old nylon netting I covered the whole thing with.
I am at 100.00 for the total brooder I am sure we will get a lot of use
out of it. One thing I already know I am going to do is move waterers closer to
the heat at least for the first few days.

Let me know what you think! ~SomeDay Farms~