Hypothermia?

[Scott H]

Where are your new chicken pics posted!?

 

[Lskellenger]

I need to get home in the daylight, my husband and I both work full time so we miss a lot of daylight at home. They are settling in fine though, and seem to be happy!

 

[Scott H]

OK ..I'll let you off the hook then...but we're waiting...

 

[Sydney Acres]

Lskellenger,
Thank you for posting about this very important issue. I know it was very painful for you, but you have informed a lot of people and may have saved other flocks. Five very important things came out of this discussion.
1) Whenever a bird dies, their necropsies can sometimes give you answers and aren't that expensive if done through a university vet school or state avian disease lab. Whenever numerous birds die, finding out why is essential.
2) Resist the temptation to blame the obvious. Look at the total picture and you will always find multiple possibilities.
3) Birds rarely need extra heat if they're healthy, but they do need ventilation and enough space.
4) Teflon coating is deadly to birds when heated (via light bulbs or non-stick cookware), and cedar shavings can be as well.
5) And this is new to me -- there's a heat lamp on the market that is Teflon coated! Was this truly a heat lamp, or was it just a light bulb that was used for heat (like the GE rough service 100, etc)? Was it a red heat lamp or a white one? Do you still have the packaging, or can you still read the brand and bulb type on the bulb itself? If not, can you go back to the place where you bought the bulb and get the information and post it for us? (And if you haven't already done so, please ask the manager of the store to post a big sign, and put labels on every box, that these are poisonous to birds -- mammals don't have a problem with this. Also, please contact the manufacturer and ask them to label the bulbs as being deadly to birds -- Sylvania and Phillips already do this, GE has gotten sued many times for this but still refuses to do so -- but another bulb company may not know about the dangers.) I know this may be hard for you to do, after what you've been through, but you could be saving someone else's flock by taking a stand.

I'm so sorry that you had to go through this. I hope your new girls love your rooster.
--April

 

[Lskellenger]

Hello April,, I unfortunately do not have the packaging, and it was "on loan" from our work in the banquet department, they are used on buffet lines to keep food warm...It was a red bulb. We can however chec out the store room for more and see where that leads. I am all for awareness! I cannot definitively say it was a teflon bulb without the packaging, but the way the birds were acting, it was a toxic exposure of some kind either from lack of ventilation, the bulb or both. Thank you fo your concern for us, we are moving on, the new girls are a delight and doing very well in our current 20 degree temps with out my help to keep warm!

 

[Lskellenger]

Our Girls scratching about in their new home, giving us much joy and yummy eggs! There is Reba the RI Red, Patsy the Brown Leghorn, Wynonna the Golden Laced Wyndotte (I think you can see a name pattern here...) and Loretta the Silver Laced Red Wyndotte (or perhaps it is a Silver red Laced?) Thank you all again!

 

[Beekissed]

For new beginnings! Nice looking girls! Love the names.

 

[Scott H]

Nice! Those are cold hardy breeds.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Beautiful new girls. I bet the rooster is glad to have company.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

I'm sorry for coming in this late in the conversation, but was it the teflon coating on the heat lamp that poisoned your hens or not? I tried to skim over this thread, I'm sorry.. just want to know.

If so, how can one be sure the heat lamp they are using to heat their coop doesn't have this coating?