Chicken Coop Fire - Help

[RedDrgn]

I'm so sorry for your loss, of your chicks and your coop. At least most of the flock did survive, relatively unscathed. I'd use neosporin (w/o pain medication) or blue kote on their burns to prevent infection and/or pecking by flockmates. As for pain, unless their exhibiting distress, I wouldn't worry too much. Chickens are so dang tough and resilient, and heal so quickly, it's amazing. So if you can keep the wounds clean and keep other chickens from picking at the wounds, they'll be healed up pretty quickly.

As for the cause of the fire, it could be lightning. Even with all of the trees around, lightning will take the path of least resistance, which could be just about anything at any time and might have been your metal fence, which would have inevitably arced to the coop.

However, if it was lightning, I'm surprised so many of you chickens survived in such good shape and weren't stunned or outright killed if their were a striking bolt. If you can (and haven't disturbed too much), I'd call your local Fire Marshal and see if they'd inspect it and possibly be able to determine the source of the fire; better safe than sorry.

 

[sdugey]

I just had a fire last week. It was caused from the red heat lamp. My husband and I are usually home but this time we were both gone for the day. My sister in law, who lives in the 100 acres beside us, saw the flames from her house and called the fire department. My husband before he left, lfortunely, had opened the coop, so some of my chickens had a chance to escape the pen. The coop burned to the ground and fell on the propane tank.. The tank was within minutes of exploding. We lost about 30 acres of our pasture and a few trees. I had 12 chickens and a rooster. All were laying hens that I had raised from eggs. I have 5 left. It is devastating to me. I have one hen who has really burned feet. It has been a week now. I have been spraying her feet with solarcaine, but she is still limping. Any suggestions?

 

[Eggcessive]

That is so awful to hear. Heat lamps can be very dangerous to use. If you can get your vet to prescribe some silvadene cream for the burns, it would be the best thing to use. I would move her into the house, and soak her feet in an epsom salts bath once or twice daily, and apply the cream. If you don't have epsom salts, Hibiclens or Betadine in the water would work. Do not bathe her unless she can be inside. Sorry about all of your loss.

 

[sdugey]

thanks so much for the information. I will call my vet for the rx.