Such a sad day

Lost 6 layers, and 9 babies early this morning after the heat lamp had fallen and caught fire. I feel so stupid. I should have known better, I should have planned better. They weren't just chickens, they were my happy place. Thankfully my silkies all made it (they were in a pen beside of the coop) one is covered in melted plastic from the bin she was sitting in and had just hatched a baby in, I wasn't able to save the baby, and will hear it chirping in the back of my mind forever. The momma is at the vet now being sedated so that they can remove the melted plastic. This is such a nightmare R.I.P. my beautiful chicken tenders

That is horrible! I had a friend whose coop burned down, he lost all his birds, at least you still have some birds that made it. I am very surprised how strong of a mothering instinct that silkie had, the fact that she stayed with her babies through that is amazing, i'm sorry they did not make it :hugs
 
OMG that's aweful. Sorry for the loss.
We get a few of those stories every year of a coop burning down. Don't be afraid to tell your story, and post your pictures next year when people start talking about heating coops. (Unless its a brooder, in which you have no choice)
I don't mean to be insensitive.
I now push for predator PROOF pens because ive lost hens to coons and hawks, and caught a possum in my coop once.

I lost my favorite girl Friday, and came extremely close to loosing her sister Saturday. A hawk was on top of her tearing at her, luckly I got to her fast. They were both silkies.
Thank you. Unfortunately the heat lamp issue was due to it being in a brooder box inside of the coop. If I had a guess, I'd say that one of the Easter egger teenagers must have jumped in the box and knocked the light down. I also lost my most special girl last week to a hawk, and built another separate coop to keep the young smaller ones in. This has been a horrible week! We plan to rebuild, bigger, and better, and will be purchasing safer heaters for our babies. We currently have another brooder in our house for the new hatches that will be losing a heat lamp asap.
 
This would be a good reason to have a smart home. You can set up a smoke detector in the pen. I plan on putting a door/window sensor on my auto chicken door. So if its open after nightfall, it will let me know.
You could do the same thing with a smoke detector. It could make all the lights on the house come on, and mabe push notifications or something.
 
Thank you. Unfortunately the heat lamp issue was due to it being in a brooder box inside of the coop. If I had a guess, I'd say that one of the Easter egger teenagers must have jumped in the box and knocked the light down. I also lost my most special girl last week to a hawk, and built another separate coop to keep the young smaller ones in. This has been a horrible week! We plan to rebuild, bigger, and better, and will be purchasing safer heaters for our babies. We currently have another brooder in our house for the new hatches that will be losing a heat lamp asap.

Just a suggestion....I don't know if it would work for you....but I use a heat bulb in a fixture like this....

images (2).jpg


It is screwed on to my brooder box so has no way of falling or being moved. If you wish to adjust the heat, you can unscrew it and move it up a few inches but I never have, the chicks just naturally move further from it as they feather up so they regulate their heat themselves. I have also never had issues with the fact that it is an 'exposed' bulb...the chicks have never injured themselves and nor have I. The only thing I did have once, was I dripped water onto the bulb accidentally as I put the waterer in there and it caused the bulb to blow and crack but it was no biggy and the glass was not hot enough for long enough to cause a fire when it fell on the shavings (in one big piece, not shattered) I have had one of these screwed into both a wooden box brooder and a plactic 'rubbermaid' type brooder.
 
I'm so sorry for your loss. Best wishes for a total recovery to the girl at the vet's.
 
This would be a good reason to have a smart home. You can set up a smoke detector in the pen. I plan on putting a door/window sensor on my auto chicken door. So if its open after nightfall, it will let me know.
You could do the same thing with a smoke detector. It could make all the lights on the house come on, and mabe push notifications or something.
That is a great idea! And one that my husband will love as well. Thank you
 

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