Don’t put warmth lamps in your hen coop
This story was initially revealed in February 2020.
When a fireplace destroyed a Clifton hen coop in 2020, firefighters recognized a newly put in warmth lamp because the most definitely trigger for the blaze that killed six chickens. Within the wake of that fireside, officers need folks to know the dangers related to these warmth sources.
“There are 4 prime issues that may trigger a fireplace in your [chicken] coop,” in response to Greg Day, hearth inspection supervisor with the Workplace of the Maine Hearth Marshal. “Warmth lamps, extension cords, bedding and water heaters.”
Of the 4, warmth lamps will be essentially the most harmful, Day stated.
“The issue with warmth lamps is the chickens can knock them over into the bedding,” Day stated. “A number of these lamps, particularly the older ones, are held in place with a dollar-fifty clamp and that’s typically not going to be sufficient to carry it in place.”
It will possibly take simply minutes for a warmth lamp bulb to ignite a coop’s straw bedding. Even working electrical energy into the coop is usually a threat, in response to Bell.
“Individuals will run extension cords into the coop and put [the cords] beneath boards or straight over the straw,” he stated. “These cords can get kinks in them or cut up open and that’s a fireplace hazard.”
Ideally, any wires or cords working into the coop ought to be positioned in conduits. On the very least, Bell recommends utilizing outdoor-grade extension cords.
To show the risks of warmth lamps and inferior cords, Glenburn farmer Daniel Bell, Jr., filmed a video of himself setting a warmth lamp on a small pile of straw. Inside a minute the straw was smoldering.
“I actually need to make folks conscious of the inherent hazard of those explicit gadgets,” Bell stated. “In my view, they’re simply not definitely worth the threat.”
Particularly since chickens are capable of preserve themselves heat sufficient even in the course of a Maine winter with out the necessity of a warmth lamp.
“Individuals ask, ‘Do you even want a warmth lamp?’ [and] the straightforward reply isn’t any,” Bell stated. “While you look exterior on a unfavourable 15 [degrees below zero] day with the wind chill at minus 30, you will note chickadees on a department and they’re doing fairly nicely on the market.”
That’s as a result of the chickadees have acclimated to the chilly, Bell stated, and chickens will do the identical factor.
“So long as your coop is one that’s an ample enclosed shelter with good air flow, the chickens will probably be effective,” Bell stated. “Permit the chickens to acclimate beneath regular circumstances and they’re going to develop additional down feathers that preserve them heat.”
Correct air flow, Bell stated, retains the coop from retaining moisture, which greater than chilly temperatures alone may cause frostbite within the birds.
“Chickens don’t want a warmth supply within the winter,” stated Donna Coffin, professor with the College of Maine Cooperative Extension. “So long as they’re acclimated, in a draft-free shelter and have dry bedding, they are going to be effective.”
The one impression the chilly climate may have, Coffin stated, is diminished egg manufacturing from laying hens.
If somebody is decided to present their chickens supplemental warmth, Coffin suggests a wall-mounted coop heater that’s particularly designed with security in thoughts.
“These radiate low temperature warmth and are mounted on the partitions so the chickens can go towards them if they need,” Coffin stated. “However utilizing that 500-degree bulb and a warmth lamp is simply asking for bother.
Each Day and Bell have seen their share of coop fires sparked by warmth lamps or frayed cords coming into contact with bedding. In 2016, at the least two Maine fires in hen coops had been blamed on warmth lamps.
“Most hen farmers use straw on the flooring of their coops and it’s nice bedding however extremely flamable,” Day stated. “You really want to maintain any warmth supply away from it.”
So far as Bell is anxious, the need to warmth a hen coop has extra to do with human emotion than hen wants.
“As accountable hen house owners you at all times really feel you need to do extra to your birds,” he stated. “You need to preserve them secure and comfortable all 12 months, however the factor is, they’re comfortable even with out the warmth lamps.”
In line with Coffin, one of the best factor to do for chickens is correctly winterize their coops, ensure they’ve recent water and loads of meals and allow them to acclimate on their very own.
“They are going to be simply effective,” she stated. “Even in a Maine winter.”
Suggestions for winterizing your hen coop can be found from the College of Maine Cooperative Extension at extension.umaine.edu/publications within the reality sheet titled, “Winter Care of Laying Hens.”
