News story: Fire destroys 500 animals

[debilorrah]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

http://www.baxterbulletin.com/article/20101215/NEWS0101/12150329/1002/NEWS01

There was another one yesterday. If you insist on using heat lamps, please, please, PLEASE make sure you secure them to the ceiling/walls where the birds cannot get at them, and dust them off every single day. PLEASE!!

Amen to that one!!!!​

 

[BigPeep]

Folks might want to try the hot oil radiators that you can get at home improvement stores. They look like miniature radiators and contain oil rather than water. They give off an even heat and don't get that hot if you keep them on the low setting, but are sufficient to take the edge off the cold. I put mine in an atrium area where I keep the feed and access the nest boxes so the chickens aren't in there to knock it over or get it dirty. Enough heat gets into the other sections to warm them. You would not be able to use them directly in the coop with the chickens as they will perch on them. It also keeps the eggs I have already collected from freezing. I don't think there is much fire risk with these. I have used them for years for starting up plant seedlings in my basement.

 

[teach1rusl]

All those poor babies!!!

Certainly a good reminder and wake-up call about how important safety is when it comes to using a heating device for brooding or otherwise.

 

[gurooh]

Quote:

Aww! I wish that wouldn't have happened! Poor baby chicks!

 

[Desert Rooster]

i think that there should be a reminder on the BYC home page in big letters on winter coop safety tips, to help new and old members on the dangers of heat lamps, and heaters and their should be recomendations on where to place these heaters in the coop

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
I agree. I would hazard to guess there are tens of thousand of brooder lamps being used in barns right now across the country. These few fires happened because they weren't being used properly, just as we also see fires every year from poorly maintained fireplaces, or improper usage of candles.

I wouldn't say the use of heat was unnecessary as both of the stories mentioned brooding chicks.

I have one of these installed in my barn and it operates unattended, as necessary, everyday, throughout the winter. It is properly installed, maintained, and used as the manufacturer intended. I don't feel it is much of a hazard or that any risk involved should preclude my use of heat: