Heated Water Bowl - Fire Started in Indianapolis, killed 6 chickens and 60k damage

[schnebbles]

Ya, I know that would be best but I'm not sure I can run 2 cords under my door. I have the 3-way end outside and it hangs up on a chair so it doesn't get buried in the snow and it's under the overhang on the house. If we stay at this house, my husband is going to put in an outside electrical box for my coop so the cords aren't going under the back door.

 

[Going Quackers]

That's unfortunate, mind you i would love more info on what this "warmer plate" was... that really is as clear as mud.

I have a heated bowl for my standard flock, it's a sealed unit, basically for cats/dogs... it is on a patio stone, my heated bucket in the duck barn is also a sealed unit up on a brick... all of them are specially rated and thermostatically controlled.

One does have to use caution, must read product info and use the right cords/plug in's etc.

 

[Hokum Coco]

I saw this last night.
http://www.wishtv.com/news/local/6-chickens-die-in-shed-fire
Very tragic. I'm actually using one myself.

Thank you for posting it may have inadvertently prevented the same thing from happening again.

Even placing you electric bowl on cinder blocks does not guarantee the chickens from knocking it over into your litter.

Watering
For along time I used heater tape around a bucket with chicken watering nipples. It worked excellent. However me being me I neglected to change the water as often as I should. This is what it looks like and it thermostatically controlled to come on at just above the freezing temperature. You would have to wrap it to suit your particular application if it is viable for your set up. It is available at Home Depot in Canada.




Last year I switched to white rubber contains the wife found somewhere. They freeze solid every night but the ice just pops out of them in the morning and I replenish them with fresh warm water. They have black ones at the feed store that are similar but large than mine.

The chickens congregate around them like people having their morning coffee. The only draw back is my yard is pepper with small ice bergs the size of the buckets.

April looks after that however..

 

[pegm]

This is totally off topic, but it is related to fires and something you probably never have even thought about. I feel it is important enough to post here so as many people are aware of what can happen with 9V batteries. I got a video via e-mail about a man who makes educational type videos for kids, and he was speaking about something that happened to him. He made the video in his burned out home. He replaced his 9V smoke detector batteries when the time changed and put them in a baggie for proper disposal. They were in his garage and he put something next to the bag and apparently the terminals on two of the batteries touched, got hot and started a fire, burning his house down. His suggestion now is to put electricians tape (the plastic black tape) on the terminals so they cannot touch any other terminal. I know this has nothing to do with chickens, but everything to do with safety. Hope it is OK to post here.

 

[Hokum Coco]

Many people are unaware of what can happen with 9V batteries. He replaced his 9V smoke detector batteries when the time changed and put them in a baggie for proper disposal. They were in his garage and he put something next to the bag and apparently the terminals on two of the batteries touched, got hot and started a fire, burning his house down. His suggestion now is to put electricians tape (the plastic black tape) on the terminals so they cannot touch any other terminal. I know this has nothing to do with chickens, but everything to do with safety.

"Thanks for Posting!"

 

[aart]

Title of this thread is very misleading...and the news story way short on details.
No way to know just how this fire started...could have been the 'warming dish' or the wiring powering it.

 

[4 the Birds]

Title of this thread is very misleading...and the news story way short on details.
No way to know just how this fire started...could have been the 'warming dish' or the wiring powering it.

+1 Many heated water bowls are used in coops safely. This could have been a self made device that was poorly wired and not safely installed.

 

[schnebbles]

Sorry about it being misleading, that wasn't my intent. I was just kind of reminding people of safety, and it got me thinking and making sure I have the safest setup - putting my water bowl on a cinder block just to be extra safe (even though my bowl is probably safe, it can't hurt!).

The article didn't give a lot of details and I guess I wouldn't think a paper would much more than that about the dish though.

 

[Going Quackers]

Sorry about it being misleading, that wasn't my intent. I was just kind of reminding people of safety, and it got me thinking and making sure I have the safest setup - putting my water bowl on a cinder block just to be extra safe (even though my bowl is probably safe, it can't hurt!).

The article didn't give a lot of details and I guess I wouldn't think a paper would much more than that about the dish though.

I agree safety is important but items vary and usage and set-ups as well. Not all are created equal. The article again, was massively vague could have been a number of things and isn't even clear on what was being used to heat the water.

All mine here are thermostatically controlled and do not get hot. They only keep the water from freezing, they are not water heaters in the sense it warms the water up.

 

[schnebbles]

Another fire I heard about Friday! not sure what happened but I was going to get a couple EE's from her last spring and her coop caught fire and killed her flock So awful!