# Warming barrels and risk of fire?



## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

Hi all. This year I am breeding earlier than last year and will be kidding in some potentially very cold weather. I do plan to be there for every kidding, but I am concerned about the cold.

I have put on doggie coats and even brought the little ones in the house before. I do know a lot of you use warming barrels. I have put a heat lamp out in the barn, but was so scared of fire potential that I "slept" - HAHAHAHA in the pen with the doe and babies.

What are your experiences and advice? If I keep them warm right away will the coats be enough or should I bite the bullet and build my barrels?

I appreciate your experience and opinions. We all know everything that goes into a good breeding - time, preparation, research and expense. Don't want to lose any little ones, especially with the emotional attachment!


----------



## Bansil (Jul 23, 2015)

Getting ready ourselves for our first winter...I am already fretting opcorn:


----------



## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

Ditto here! What are you doing?????


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I use both warming barrels and heat lamps. If you are concerned about heat lamps, then use the warming barrels.


----------



## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

Thanks Karen - I see you are in Ohio as well.... would you have any suggestions when using heat lamps to help avoid risk of fire? My neighbors had a fire last year with their lambs, so I guess that is what makes me so nervous.


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I have my heat lamps attached to something that the goats can't get near. They don't end up with being as warm under the heat lamps since they are further away but it still helps. I really love my warming barrels and they use a 100 watt light bulb.


----------



## Lstein (Oct 2, 2014)

Something that I recommend doing if you are using heat lamps, in addition to hanging it somewhere the goats cant get like Karen said, is to re-adjust the hanging hook. Where that hanging hook attaches to the lamp ( with some models, yours might be different), the ends of the hook are pointed inward. Turn them so that they are facing outward. It's are real pain to try and accomplish, but it seems to give it a lot more grip. This is the style that I'm referring to.


----------



## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

Thank you so much!!! Now I know what to do tomorrow for Labor Day! Will clue in my DH in the morning!:lol:


----------



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I am in Central KY, so I am very near SW Ohio.

Last year we kidded Jan-Mar, and we only had to use the heat lamp in a heating barrel a couple of times, but we used the barrel's all of the time. The barrel's even without lights work GREAT, put a good layer of bedding in them and the kids will love snuggling inside.
Most of ours kidded in January last year, which was a mild month, never had to use a light, and don't think we even needed a sweater! 
We don't use lamps or sweaters unless it's below freezing, or we think the baby needs the added protection.
Before we started using the barrel's babies got sweaters anytime it was below 40 degrees.

We use the TSC chicken heat lamps. we make an opening in the middle on top of the barrel, and pull the light up through it, and then attach the clamp, which we don't clamp to anything, but it keeps the light from moving/slipping down into the barrel.
My husband cut an old garden house and put it around the wire, none of our does ever messed with the wire/garden hose.

We secured our barrel to the wall, below is a pic, BUT one thing I want to change for my own piece of mind is to find a way to secure the bottom of the barrel as well as the top.

We use a 40watt bulb, not the heat lamp bulbs - those are way too hot IMO. 40watt I noticed in our coldest days/nights was sufficient.

We actually had a baby that after a few days would NOT sleep in the barrel under her light, it wasn't too warm, but she wouldn't go in there unless I turned the light off lol!!! Stinker!!!! She's always been a bit odd anyway lol!


----------



## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Ugh I'm ways worried about fires too so got out of my way not to use the heat lamps. Even then I don't just use the hooks on the lamp but also have a rope that goes from one side of all my stalls to the other. Then with the cord I got duct tape and taped the heck out of the cord. That way if the hoof fails it only drops maybe 1/2 a inch.
I have yet to use the barrels because of fear but I like the barrel idea above!! I was having a hard time figuring out how to make it where it couldn't get knocked over. The only idea I had was screwing it to a 2X4 that would be on the top of the barrel then also attached to the frame work of my so called 'barn'. But anyways another concern I had after hearing someone had a issue with this was that baby would go in, mama would lay up against the hole and bake the baby. So IF I were to have a barrel (I can't speak from experience here) I would have 2 holes in it


----------



## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

The enclosed heat lamps from Premier 1 work great. I hang them over the drum and they 
do the job. We had kids born last winter when it was -28º F. The barn was below zero! (house felt like it too!).
The kids were fine in their blue drum. (also known as the easy bake oven!)


----------



## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

Such great ideas from everyone - saving this thread to show my DH!


----------



## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

I live in Maine and we have some rugged cold weather. I used to breed to kid in January and Fed. I never used heat lamps or barrels or anything and never had any problems. I made sure I got the kids dried off and fed, but that was about all I did. That was standard dairy, Nigerians and Boers. 

I did have a dog house in the stall for the kids, but the does would jump on them and break them, plus the kids would pig pile into a single house and I almost lost a couple of suffocation. Now I just have a creep area with lots of shavings and fluffy straw.

I had a barn fire that killed all my goats. While it had nothing to do with heat lamps or electricity (arson), it is nothing I ever want to experience again. Ever. Last year alone, there were 7 local fires caused by heat lamps in the barn or house. A lot of lives were lost because of it. I don't even have electricity in my barn unless I am home and in the barn. 

I have heard that the premier heat lamps are very safe, but I still get the heebie jeebies thinking about electricity in my barn.


----------



## Greybird (May 14, 2014)

I can't take credit for this idea but this is a warming shelter that I saw pictured on Facebook. It really appeals to me because I think it would work for a wide variety of small animals. That, and old chest freezers are very cheap, already insulated, and clad in easy-to-clean surfaces. In fact, I've been keeping a watch out for a large, dysfunctional, chest freezer "just in case." (They're great for feed storage, too!)

I would be using it for poultry but I can't see why it wouldn't work for goats.
If I were doing it for myself I would mount the light on the opposite end from the entry hole, and, space permitting, I would have the freezer positioned so that it could slide through a wall with a freezer-sized opening in it. (This would also prevent the freezer lid from being opened.) Most chest freezers have a raised area over the motor and I imagine that spot would be the warmest place of all. The light fixture would be protected by being mounted on the other side of the wall, completely out of reach of any curious or clumsy critters.


----------



## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

Gives an entire different meaning to the term "freezer camp"! :lol:
I wonder if you would even need much of a light bulb, especially if you had enough straw etc. inside. 
You might want to make sure there is ventilation, those little goat bodies produce a lot of moisture, through pee and 
respiration.


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

That is cool!


----------

