Why we must be careful with our brooder lights.

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

Quote:
Anchor the lamp in many different ways. For example: I anchor mine with a chain then use about 4 zip ties to reinforce it. If one fails, there are 4 back up's in the zip ties. We also don't brood in the house. (not for this reason though, DH doesn't like chicks in the house) I also will not brood in a cardboard box, I'm just too paranoid about fire.

How sad for those people and their pets.

what DO you brood in? I am using a rubber maid type tote, but I know we will be building a wooden one as soon as the chicklets grow bigger

 

[nancypo]

I going to put some wire over the top of my box when I'm gone to be on the safe side....

 

[Boost Junkie]

Sad, thats 5 miles from my home. My birds are just big enough to hop, flap and "fly" and I found one sitting on the light stand... I will be modifying this heavily tonight.

 

[HennyJenny]

Crap - now I'm going to have drive home at lunch to put my paranoia in check instead of playing on BYC!

 

[OrpingtonManor]

this is a great reminder. I'm about to set up my brooder. Now, I'll make doubly sure that everything is secure. What a tragedy. It could be any one of us.

 

[Happy Chooks]

MomtoSyd&Emma :

Quote:
Anchor the lamp in many different ways. For example: I anchor mine with a chain then use about 4 zip ties to reinforce it. If one fails, there are 4 back up's in the zip ties. We also don't brood in the house. (not for this reason though, DH doesn't like chicks in the house) I also will not brood in a cardboard box, I'm just too paranoid about fire.

How sad for those people and their pets.

what DO you brood in? I am using a rubber maid type tote, but I know we will be building a wooden one as soon as the chicklets grow bigger​

I brood in an extra large dog crate. (the plastic kind with the metal door) I take it apart, and face it end to end on the floor. (where the door usually goes) I duct tape it, so it's flat and no little toes get smooshed. This doubles the area they have to run around in. (for the first several days, I just block off the 2nd part until they get used to the light, and where food and water is) The grates on the side of the top part are perfect for putting a roost across. I then cover it with some metal liner we have, so nobody can escape.

You can see part of it in this picture:

Then when they are feathered out, they go here until they are big enough to join my flock:

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

Thank you, we are using a very large (the largest our walmart carried rubber maid type tote!)

 

[Purple Veg*n]

I'm only a tiny bit worried. We're using only a 75 W red bulb and the bin is covered with hardware cloth. I took a pics of our heat lamp but left the camera at home. I don't think anything will catch fire if it falls over on to the brooder. I've been going home at lunch so I can check on them anyway. I may poke around in my husband's big toolbox for something that would make my set up even more stable.

 

[FrenchToast]

I'm going to be checking my brooders today too.
I'm also going to be putting up the window stickers I have had for years on my doors for the firemen to know how many animals I have in the house. I to crate my big Pyrenese dogs at night. I might just put (crated) next to the number I have on the sticker.

How tragic for that family. Hope they recover quickly.

 

[Hillsvale]

I have my brooder light in the brooder box suspended via a hole in the top on a 1x1... if the 1x1 broke when the light hit the hole the cord would stop its 2' descent and it has the cage on it.

In the coop both the brooder light and the 2 gallon waterer are suspended on a chain which it attached to huge hooks in a 2x4 on the ceiling... the chain will support 125 pounds of weight

maybe overkill but better safe than sorry.