FIRE! Electrical safety in the coop

[jruhle]

A few months ago I visited a friend who showed me how she was keeping her waterers unthawed during a cold spell. She had a couple heatlamps pluged into some cheapo plugbars. I was about to leave when I saw flames inside the coop!!! I yelled FIRE, FIRE! and quickly grabbed a watering pail and doused the flames. Unfortunately my friend panicked and tried to rip the flaming plastic down with her hands and suffered severe burns from the melted plastic. Always use outdoor rated cords and keep the plugs dry and away from litter and especially plastic! If I had left a minute later their entire coop & run would have been engulfed and the poor chickens would have had no escape! Fortunately we had a mild winter, after that I was too paraniod to put a light up in my coop. My new coop I'm building I plan on wiring it in with outdoor wire & plugs. The cheap wiring was melted and sparking which lit up the plastic they had put up for the cold.

 

[Clackclack]

You are entirely right!!!

 

[bj taylor]

I came as close as you can get to burning my barn down this winter trying to give heat to my chicks. it scared me to death. my add to this thread is NEVER underestimate the danger of adding heat in a coop

 

[pappy1264]

Thank goodness you saw it! We are doing a GFI box, with it wired out and under the ground. I will have a light if I need to turn one on to see, but don't intend to use any for heat (we are insulating the coop and will have lots of vents that can be closed off if need be). Fire is a huge risk. Thank goodness everyone is ok (well sorry about your friends hand.)

 

[aart]

Fire Safety Thread

 

[Hokum Coco]

I used to provided electricity to my coop but after reading on this site not anymore. I have flashlights that fill the bill winter and summer and my birds are cold hearty. I am also a fan of rubber bucket for winter watering.

Check the link.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/738994/chickens-arctic-conditions-prolonged-period