# Not sure what to put for a subject........



## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

Ok, maybe its just me but it seems to me that there are more people with sick goats this year or other problems. Maybe its because we just have more members asking about things, I'm not sure.

I'm not complaining, but I got to thinking, how many of you use those screwy looking fluorescent light bulbs in your barn vs regular bulbs?

The only reason I asked is because I had a song stuck in my head this morning that got me thinking of light bulbs(yes I'm weird I know) and I don't know of anybody whose done an official study but we got this magazine a couple months ago and somebody had written a letter talking about how bad these light bulbs are for animals and humans. The letter was from a cow farmer who was having trouble with his cows after he started using fluorescent bulbs in his barn. His cows' production dropped, SCC counts went up, he has more frequent problems with mastitis and he couldn't get his cows to settle. After using them in his own house, he started getting hives, started getting the flu more often. His wife finally replaced the bulbs with regular ones and the problems went away.

My theory is, those animals who have the F(sorry I get tired of typing that, lol) bulbs in their barns, if they were being affected by the mercury given off by the lights then their immune systems would be compromised, giving way for worms, pneumonia, etc to come in and affect them.

Sorry if this seems like a conspiracy theory, I don't want to start and argument, I just wanted to see if these things go together


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## PiccoloGoat (Sep 10, 2008)

Well the f bulbs in aus havent affected us at all. Maybe you need some aussie ones xP
They are in almost every room in the house now. and my house is like a barn for the pigs i call my brothers.


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## Amos (Oct 2, 2008)

My mom made me screw some of those in just the other day downstairs, I read the package and i told her 'Yay, now we can die from mercury poison, besides radiation, lead, and all the other cancers down here!' and then she put a new one in the goat barn. Lol. They do give off better light though?


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## RunAround (Feb 17, 2008)

I can't stand F- light bulbs. They drive me nuts. 

In the goat barn I use regular light bulbs, 100w. 
In the horse barn I put regular lights where I could. But on the second floor hallway we have the long tube F lights.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

We use the F bulbs in our house all the time, have been for years and nothing has changed in our health. No lights in the barn


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## FunnyRiverFarm (Sep 13, 2008)

Like Stacey, I have no lights in my goat barn...

We have been using F-bulbs in our house for a couple years now and I haven't noticed anything unusual. I used to work under flourescent light all day in a retail store and never experienced any ill-effects. In fact I haven't had so much as a sore throat in in almost four years...

I have no idea about what long term effects there could be, though...


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

my heat lamps have reg. bulbs, the bright light from the "f" bulbs just is irritating to my eyes.


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

Just wondering, just a theory  We don't use them our barns or our house because of the mercury, my dad is actually hoarding regular light bulbs :lol:


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## Pam B (Oct 15, 2007)

My husband decided we should switch over to F-bulbs in our house. They give me migraines. We went back to regular incandescent bulbs. I dread the day I can no longer buy them. I guess I should do like your dad, goathappy, and start hoarding them. But since I figure I've got 30 or 40 more years to live I don't know that I can store that many bulbs!


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

When DH and I expanded my barn we went with the Flourescent shop lights..I have 1 in the girls side and 1 in the boys side...the only time they are used though is when it's dark outside...I have plenty windows to let in natural light and I have a single 75 watt regular bulb in my feed, kidding , milking area...plenty light to see by.


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## PiccoloGoat (Sep 10, 2008)

Maybe you guys are bothered by the brightness because yur used to the dull ones?
I don't know but these aren't making us sick :shrug: 
I have them under our pagola, in the garage, in the shed, in the house, and out the front.


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## goathappy (Oct 5, 2007)

The thing about it though is just because one gets sick doesn't mean everybody is going to get sick. It all depends upon stress factors, immune system strength, etc. 

We had been putting the F bulbs in our chicken house and our hens stopped laying(and they were laying really well before that), we haven't put any in the goat house though.


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