Heat Lamps, Safety, and Livestock

Heat Lamps, Safety, and Livestock featured image

Every winter I see articles like this about a barn fire or other structure that burns down because of a heat lamp. In fact, we almost had two fires here because of heat lamps. Yeah, not just one, but two!

Many years ago we had a heat lamp hanging on a nail, and the goats knocked it down. That was definitely a rookie mistake made by someone who had no clue how curious goats can be. The straw caught on fire. Luckily my daughter saw smoke coming out of the barn, so she was able to put the fire out before any serious damage was done or goats were injured or killed.

Then we almost had a fire in our basement. We were brooding chicks, and we had the heat lamp hanging on a broom handle. The broom went across the top of the box, with the broom snugged up against one side, and the handle hanging over the other end of the box by at least two feet. I fiddled with the setup for a bit before deciding that there was no way the heat lamp could wind up in the box. I was wrong. We had been keeping the basement door closed because we weren’t sure how our young dog would react to the chicks. Luckily, I happened to see that the door was open about a foot, so I immediately went running downstairs, worried that the dog might have killed the chicks. The chicks were fine, but the dog had knocked the end of the broom handle into the box, which meant the heat lamp had slid down and was now in contact with the paper towel and cardboard box, which already was turning brown and smoking.

I redoubled my efforts to figure out how to attach heat lamps so that they couldn’t possibly be knocked down, but I kept using the same metal heat lamps because I didn’t know there was anything out there that was safer. It was obvious that having two wires across the bulb in the shape of an X really did nothing to keep the bulb from coming in contact with bedding and igniting it. Why hadn’t anyone created anything safer?

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One cold January I was asked to speak at a sheep and goat workshop. One of the other speakers was talking about housing, which included a slide on heat lamps. He had a picture of an orange and white heat lamp that I had never seen before. He said it was made by Premier 1 Supplies and that it’s the only type of heat lamp that he uses. Why? Because a few years earlier he had lost all of his lambs and most of his sheep to a barn fire. I get goose bumps just writing this. I still remember how his voice cracked as he told the story of losing all those sheep. Of course, I thought about how devastated I would be if I lost all of my goats. I went home and ordered my first heat lamp from Premier.

heat lamp
Premier heat lamp on the left; cheap metal one on the right

As soon as I received it, I realized why it was so much safer than the cheap metal ones. The housing for the bulb is much bigger, so the bulb can’t come in contact with bedding. Plus the cover is a grid — rather than two wires in the shape of an X. The best feature is that it’s top heavy, so if it got knocked down, it would land on its side. The bulb would not be facing the bedding. So, even if you made a rookie mistake like I did years ago, it would be highly unlikely to start a fire. (But remember, I made that mistake so you don’t have to — so do NOT hang your heat lamp from a nail!)

This is the only type of heat lamp that I buy now. We use it for newborn kids, piglets, and brooding chicks. It’s also the only heat lamp that I recommend, and I have never heard anyone say anything negative about it. I can’t say that about hardly anything related to farming or homesteading. It seems that the answer to everything is, “It depends.” The only way I could use that phrase when it comes to heat lamps would be if I said something rude like, “Well, it depends on how badly you want to avoid a barn fire. If you really don’t want a fire, I’d use the heat lamp from Premier.”

It should go without saying, but you still need to use common sense when using this heat lamp. Definitely keep it out of reach of animals so they can’t butt it or ram it or chew on the cord or anything like that. And do not just hang it on a nail like I did years ago. I always use a carabiner clip attached to an eye hook that’s screwed into wood.

heat lamp
Photo courtesy of Premier1Supplies

If you want to know more about their heat lamp (which is now black and white), click here for lots of pictures and videos. That’s another thing I love about the company. Their customer service is outstanding. Because they actually raise sheep and goats, they have lots of practical knowledge about their products. They actually develop the products that they need in their own operation.

heat lamps, safety, and livestock pin image

174 thoughts on “Heat Lamps, Safety, and Livestock”

    • I raise Nigerian dwarf goats, one of whom will be kidding soon. We also have a lamb, a pig and many chickens. (The cats also enjoy the heat!)
      We have been using the old metal ones because until now, we didn’t know there were others!

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      • I had an old style I used for lambs…had triplets. I like this one…hadn’t seen it before. My neighbor puts one on her front porch for cats. Don’t laugh: she uses the red bulb! Thanks for the lovely posts and drawing!

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    • I have goats and sheep that will be having babies soon. I would love to have one of these heat lamps to try!
      Thank you for donating one.

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    • This looks like it would be great for my ducklings this spring! My heat lamp experience thus far includes putting metal grates over the boxes of chicks and ducklings then the heat lamp over that.

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    • I raise chickens and Nigerian Dwarf goats. The chickens seem to do alright despite the cold, and we just use a traditional heat lamp indoors when we order chicks (that I have to watch like a hawk when my youngest children are running around). I do worry about the goats come kidding time. The first year we used a regular heat lamp, and were lucky to have no incidences. We then had a couple years with just summer kiddings, and last winter was so unusually mild we didn’t even use a lamp. But THIS year has been brutally cold so far, and our first kids are due in only 3 weeks…

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    • 8 have goats and chickens and I have several does who are going to kid in a few weeks. InteLly need a fe2 of these heat lamps tp protect their kids from the cold. This lamp would be a blessing!

      Reply
  1. I raise Nubian goats, Barbados Blackbelly sheep and chickens for both eggs and meat. We have one Premier 1 heat lamp but need another for kidding season! Thanks for your wonderful articles!

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  2. We have pigs, beef cattle, sheep, chickens, geese and ducks, most giving birth to young every year. Presently use the metal ones, very carefully, but this lamp would be particularly useful for hanging in a stall with young pigs/lambs who need the extra warmth – to be on the safe side with the larger babies we now err on the side of caution and hang the metal ones much higher which means they get less warmth – it would be nice to not have to do that.

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  3. I raise Nigerian Dwarf and Mini Silky Fainting goats. I’ve never used a heat lamp as I am a huge worry wart! But this one looks fantastic!

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  4. I raise ND goats. I own 1 premier heat lamp, but need two more for my babies due any day. Would love to win one as I researched these lamps and found they were safest to use in my barn.

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  5. I’d love to get this for the baby chicks. We use the old heat lamps described and I’m terrified of all the dangers but didn’t realize there was a better option

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  6. Use heat lamps for the new kids when the outdoor temp screams too low. Also use them for new chicks when we do winter babies. Dpn’t own the Premier1, but know they are the best.

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  7. I have a really drafty barn, and I’m working on ways to patch up the drafts between the boards, but sadly when it gets -20 and below my animals (chickens,ducks, geese, and goats) are all shivering a little bit. I usually put a heat lamp in our middle area and it’s enough to take the chill out of the air and no one shivers, without having to have lamps in every stall. Currently we use the metal one you pictured, and I worry all the time about fires, but I also worry about them being too cold! This looks very safe and would help me sleep better at night, I need one of these!

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  8. I didn’t know there was a safer option than the metal heat lamps. Right now I use deep bedding, but occasionally lose piglets to crushing when it gets to cold.

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  9. We have some goats due to kid in March and you never know how the weather will be then in Maine. Having a lamp like this will be helpful and I’ll feel safer using it! Thanks for spreading the word!

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  10. We use heat lamps for most goat kidding seasons, because they love to kid when it’s under 20 degrees it seems. I’ve only had the old metal heat lamps but after reading this, I’m have to go check out the Premier kinds.

    Thank you for bringing these dangers to my attention.

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  11. We have goats, rabbits, chickens and ducks. Currently the rabbits and poultry have a cheap heat lamp, but wired securely to rafters, rabbits even have a small heater in the garage for those below zero temps.

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  12. We have Nubian goats and a variety of chickens on our little farm. We use the cheap metal heat lamps and just threw away our last working lamp due to the goats breaking a bulb into the socket. Will be looking into getting a new safer lamp now. Thanks!!

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  13. I have used heat lamps for my goats, chickens, ducks, turkeys and rabbits……but I always had a sense of dread when using them…..so afraid of fire and my animals being injured or killed by them……I have since switched over to Sweeterheaters for my birds……but haven’t figured out what to use for my other animals other than a heat lamp…..this new style of heat lamp from Premier looks promising and I would love to try one out……thank you for giving us all a chance to win one!

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  14. I would definitely love to have a heat lamp for chickens, baby chicks, goats and kids! Eventually will expand to pigs and miniature cows. Safety from fire is a big concern and with this recommendation I feel confident this one is a great choice to ease my fears! Thank you for sharing your story and for the recommendation!!!

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  15. Just bought 4 of these lamps, I haven’t really used them yet but I can comment on the construction, which it awesome. Solid thick plastic, lid snaps into place by short rotation. Easily comes off.
    Would also like to add that the bulbs that premier sells for these lamps are excelent too.
    I will be using it with goats kids

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  16. Did not know about these lamps! We have a few metal ones for chicks and ducklings. So far we haven’t had a problem but I definitely want to get away from using them.

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  17. I keep goats, and have never bought a heat lamp because of the terrifying stories! With this recommendation, I may have the courage!

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  18. We raise baby chicks every year that we have used a heat lamp for. ( not the proper one either) I am looking into goats, that we would be breeding at some point. We currently have calves that we used a heat lamp on while we were in the barn with him till he was dried off. I would love to try one of your heat lamps. I have a feeling we would never buy anything else.

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  19. This lamp is on my list of things to buy for chicks, ducklings, goslings, goat kids, and our future calves. After horror stories about fires from the other lamps, I’m terrified to use them!

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  20. Would love to get these for goat babies! Had goats years ago, and came close to having a fire. Heat lamps scare me to death!

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  21. I have dairy goats and chickens I’d like to keep heat lamps on for but haven’t for fear of having a barn fire. In the past have only used lamps on chicks when they are young.

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  22. Hi sorry my comment didn’t work properly ( outdated device)
    We have chickens that use heat lamps and id be devasted if this happened. What a sad story 🙁 my heart goes out to him. I’d love one of these lamps! Heat lamps are scary

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  23. We use heart lamps during kidding season. Right now I have 2 of the Premiere Lamps and they are great! I feel really comfortable having them in the barn. Can always use another one.

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  24. My daughter started raising Lamancha goats as a 4H project and it blossomed from there into a 30+ head herd. We only use Premier 1 heat lamps for her kids at the barn and at out home when feathering out chickens, turkeys and guineas. Our animals deserve nothing less!

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  25. We have Nigerian Dwarf Goats and only 1 Premier heat lamp. It would be great to have another one when kidding season begins.

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  26. I’m expecting Nigerian Dwarf kids early March and this heat lamp would differently give me piece of mind if we are having cool weather at that time. I’m fearful of the metal lamps for sure!

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  27. My daughter and I raise meat goats. We live in upstate NY and definitely need heat lamps for kidding season. We just hooked up our old metal ones and i cant believe how hot the metal gets. i just commented to my daughter saying that we need to get a couple of the plastic heavier duty heat lamps from premier. We would love to win one. I am a nervous nelly when i start using the metal ones.

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  28. We use a heat lamp for chicks, ducklings and poults. I just saw this online in the past few weeks. I would love the opportunity to try it out! Thank you!

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  29. We never use heat lamps (or anything left plugged in in the barn, really), but I’d love to have a safer option for our goats when they kid on chilly days.

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  30. We raise Nubian – Saanen & Lamancha Milk goats . We have some mamas that are due soon. With this crazy winter weather – it’s been much colder than we are used to (way down south) so I have been looking for some safe heat lamps for the nursery pens. I’m really afraid of the old style metal ones catching the barn on fire. I’ve read great reviews on the Premier One heat lamps. Thank you for such a generous giveaway!

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  31. This would be awesome to win would make me feel much better when I have to have one going for the goats chickens or sheep

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  32. We raise Boer goats and show pigs. Right now I’m in the middle of kidding and have been using the old metal heat lamps I have been looking into purchasing one of these from Premier though and reading comments on it as the more horror stories I hear about the old ones the more nervous I get each time I plug them in!

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  33. Wow! So glad I read this article! I have been using heat lamps for years and had a few close calls, so now when one is on- we make sure one of us is in the barn at all times! We used to have sheep and used them on the lambs, and i work part time on a hog farm where we have hundreds going! My husband and I just started up a small dairy goat operation a year and a half ago and use them for the kiddos (and the cats love them too!) and it makes me so nervous because goat kids are sooo much more curious than lambs and piglets, and now that i have a toddler running around i was considering not using them at all but finding something like heating matts but that makes me nervous too!!

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  34. I have chicken and currently use a ceramic bulb in the coop when it gets below 20 degrees. This looks like it would even be safer! Would love to try it.

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  35. I would love be to try these lamps. Our goat kids are due in less than 3 weeks. We use heat lamps in each stall too keep the babies warm . We brood chicks in February too! Thank you for your consideration!

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  36. I hope this is right. I have goats and the lamps I used now are the worst, the goats knock them, mend them and brake the bulbs. Would love one of these

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  37. I have Pygmy and Nigerian dwarfs as well as turkeys,chickens, a miniature pony and a few pigs. I love them and enjoy spending time with them daily.

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  38. Would love to win this type of heat lamp…it is so much safer! I would use it for baby chicks,ducks and our first Nigerian dwarf kids coming soon! Thank you for entering us!

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  39. We have 14 goats with 8 does going to kid in the next month . Also raise chickens. So this heal lamp would be used a lot ! Will be looking into permeir heat lamps .

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  40. We just had our 3 boers kid out all at once, of course it was -20 f. Currently have 3 cheap lamps going. Am going to have to order so we have on hand for goats and poultry.

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  41. I have Nigerian Dwarf Goats, raise chicks, turkeys, ducks, KuneKune pigs, and other miscellaneous babies that find their way here. I found brooder plates to be much safer for our poultry babies, and have been searching for a safer alternative for our other babies! I’d love to win a Premier heat lamp!

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  42. Thank you for your post! This heat lamp would really come in handy for our mini Alpine goats born today (it’s cooooolllld!). I had no idea they made a safe one!

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  43. I have Nigerian Dwarf goats, Southdown English Sheep and Shetland Ponies that I breed. Had my first Nigerian babies this Winter and only have a metal heat lamp. I used for five days but was nervous the whole time. It was 24 degrees out when the babies were born. I could use the Premier heat lamp in the future!

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  44. Thank you for the information! I would love a heat lamp for chicks and lambs. I’m relieved there is a better, safer option.

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  45. I raise dairy goats and chickens, and this past Christmas I was given two of these as gifts. They’re absolutely amazing and so much safer than the regular ones I used to use, which once almost burned down our chicken coop and killed several chicks in the process. We love these!
    -Grace Carmack-

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  46. We currently have goats, a calf, 2 pigs, turkeys, geese, ducks, and chickens. I’m currently in the process of switching out all of our metal heat lamps for other sources. When I was 10 years old I was severely burned so I absolutely hate the metal heat lamps. That’s all that was available in our area when we first started our journey 2 years ago but now I’m learning about different sources. I would love to try one of these lamps!!!

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  47. We have had two goat babes that I literally dressed in clothing to keep warm and avoid fires. It’s always a big worry for me. This is such good information to have. I’d love to have one of these.

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  48. We raise chickens for eggs and meat production, as well as ducks, peacocks, guineas and our daughter has the sweetest heard of Nigerian dwarf goats. I always stress when my husband uses one of those old style lamps and vow to get the newer better style, someday.

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  49. We have nigerians and chickens. I use a heat lamp for my does and kids in the winter and would love to try a better, safer option.
    Thank you

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  50. Goats chickens ducks an calves…have used the old ones and had a fire start in my barn…. Would love to get one of these

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  51. Don’t have a barn here but I do have aquariums and it does get cold here in. Also my cat loves the heat. I wonder if it can be converted for use for my turtle on his basking deck

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  52. I use the standard heat lamps for various livestock. During kidding with my goats. Also chicks and turkey poults depending on where I’m brooding them and temperature. Love the premiere heat lamps and have wanted to purchase a few for years! They are nice but pricey

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  53. We use heat lamps for all baby chicks, and we use them with our chicken s and ducks when temps drop to teens or lower. We had to quit using one either our drakes. Apparently they did not like it, and they managed to reach through those four wires and knock out the bulb! Yikes! Would love to try one from Premier!

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    • That is so scary about your ducks! Adult ducks don’t need a heat lamp, especially if you have them inside. When it was -10 a couple of weeks ago, our ducks were out in the pond splashing around and loving it.

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  54. We raise goats and chickens. We currently have a doe due any day. With tonight’s temp in the negative digits and the windchill being -20 it would be great to have one. Baby chicks coming this spring also.

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  55. I have goats due any day. And new babies already. We have those old heat lamps even though we also have had a couple small smoldering spots as well as goats hair burning from standing to close. Didn’t know there was another option .

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    • I forgot to mention that! We had a white goat that wound up with a brown spot on her back because it singed her hair. 🙁

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  56. These are great heat lamps. We have chicks and goats and hang the lamps on chains so they are ultra safe and we can raise and lower them as needed depending on the species!

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  57. I have goats, chickens, ducks and rabbits! I live in Mississippi and under normal circumstances, my animals do just fine, however, this will be my first kidding season and the weather has been very bipolar this year. I was completely unprepared for snow, ice and continuous below freezing temps when my rabbits kitted and lost all of the kits! I felt like such a failure! I am scared to death of the regular heat lamps and I am up and down all night checking on them all! I will definitely be looking into these! Thank you so much for sharing!

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  58. Hi Deborah,
    Thanks for the wonderful post, and we’re happy that our lamps are working for you.
    A quick note for safety: Even though we find our lamps safer then common metal lamps, we still take every precaution to reduce fire risk. Keep the lamp at least 20″ away from the ground and periodically check that the bulb is securely tightened in situations where the heat lamp may be jostled by animals.
    -Joe from Premier 1 Supplies

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  59. I almost lost my chicken coop to a fire from the metal heat lamps. Thank goodness we saw smoke before we lost everything. We also raise Boer goats and use heat lamps often when kidding. I think I’m going to give this heat lamp a try!!

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  60. We still use the dangerous heat lamps because it just hasn’t been in the budget to buy these safer and nicer ones. I have them sitting in my cart online but just haven’t clicked buy yet.
    We would use the for our goats and chickens. We live in a valley so the wind chill is often signicantly greater for our animals. I want to provide the coziest homes I can for my animals!

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  61. This looks like a great product. At the moment, I could use it for chickens that chose to molt in this incredibly cold weather! I am afraid to hang a regular heat lamp in the coop. In the spring I could use it for chicks and goat kids.

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  62. I have several of the Premier 1 heat lamps. Ever since our house burned down in 2010, we decided we we not going to use the metal heat lamps (not the cause of the fire, but the extension cords). The Premier One heat lamps are the best hands down. I recommend these during my Goats 101 class. I have NDs, a lot of them and also use one of the Premier One heat lamps in my milking parlor to help keep me warm.

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  63. I have been raising pygmy goats for three years now. I just learned about this heat lamp last week from Goats Gone Grazing Acres, who received one of these as a gift. I told my husband about these lamps as soon as I learned about them. I would love to have one of these in my goat barn for the winter.

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  64. With the super cold weather we’ve been having here in northern New England, I could use a safe way to keep my chickens & their eggs warm. After losing my circa 1700 farm & barn to a fire in 2005, I’ve been very leery of heat lamps because of the high fire risk. This seems to be a happy medium. Thank you to both you & Premier One for giving us the opportunity to win one.

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  65. I did indeed have a fire in one of our outbuildings caused by a heat lamp back in September. I not only lost all of the baby chicks I was brooding, but all my Christmas decorations, canning supplies, old photos and many other items I stored in there. I had always used a simple 100 watt light bulb in the past, but thought I would try a heat lamp this time. Boy, do I regret that decision! Anyway, I raise Nigerians, but would like a new heat lamp to raise a flock of turkeys this year. Thanks for this timely article.

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  66. This will be our first season kidding on our 10-acre family farm. I could really use this heat lamp for the baby goats we have coming in March! Thanks for your consideration.

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  67. These are the only heat lamp that I will use. I hook them up in a horse trailer that is parked by my house. I put bottle baby goats in the trailer bc it is near the house and it is close to the house. The barn where I keep my goats is about 5 miles away.

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  68. We still use the old metal heat lamps for newborn calves and it scares me to think of the consequences if a calf jumps and knocks it down. I can see where the newer style lamps from Premier would be much safer to use.

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  69. We have goats, chickens, ducks and quail. Our goats are due to kid in March, so hopefully we will not need a heat lamp for them, but we do use heat lamps for chicks and ducklings. So far we have placed hardware cloth over brooders and hung heat lamps over that, wired into place. Thank you, Premier 1 for providing a heat lamp to give away and Deborah for the article and giveaway.

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  70. I have a couple pygmy wethers that are pets and 3 rabbits. As I can bring the rabbits in the house, the husband won’t let me bring in the goats. I worry they won’t get into their barn or one of the 3 hay filled xlarge houses we have for them. I haven’t gotten one of the metal heat lamps because of the fire hazard. Thank you so much for this giveaway and telling about the Premier heat lamps.

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  71. Heart of the Adirondacks, minus 31 F, chickens got frostbite on their combs with a red headlamp in coop, goats got frozen nostrils. No kidding. First coldsnap lasted a week. Saranac Lake usually pegs out the coldest in the continental USA making headlines every year.

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  72. I have Nigerian Dwarfs, Nubians and Mini Nubians. I have 10 does about to start kidding.

    With the absolutely frigid weather we are having right now, I started looking at options for providing heat for the kids about due. I haven’t actually seen a Premier1 Prima Heat Lamp yet but would love to win one to see if I want to buy more of them for the kidding pens and for the kid pens.

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  73. We have goats and chickens. We have been lucky so far with the metal heat lamps so we are very interested in the Premier 1 type.

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  74. This would have been very useful for our first kidding this year. New mom that was not interested in getting her buckling dry for awhile. I also hope to get chicks this spring.

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  75. This would have been very useful for our first kidding this year. New mom that was not interested in getting her buckling dry for awhile. I also hope to get chicks this spring.

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  76. I would use these lamps for goat kidding. Currently I am so afraid of barn fires that I either put modified infant sleepers on the kids or bring them in the house when necessary. I can see that these lamps would work safely.

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  77. Our farm homes a LGD, Donkey, Nigerian Dwarfs and chickens. The last 4 years we’ve had fixed locations for our cheap metal heat lamps. Because I was so nervous of burning the barn down(I am a Firefighter by trade so that would look really bad!) I drilled holes into the metal housing and wired the lamps to metal railings in our barn. The power cords also have back up ties on them incase there was a catastrophic failure of my metal housing wire job. I also placed chicken wire over the “X” on the housing to prevent contact with combustibles. This so far has worked, the downside is they dont move. Trying the Premier 1 is definitely in order, it would be nice to move the lamp instead of the livestock! Thanks for the opportunity and sharing this product.

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  78. Hi Deborah!

    We raise American Guinea hogs, chickens, rabbits, and plan to tray raising a batch of meat ducks in the spring. We have only used the cheap metal heat lamps so far. They make me so nervous!!! But we havent had the funds to order one of these yet. Maybe before we order ducklings we can get one.

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  79. I have one really old goat. She would love a little warmth from a heat lamp. I won’t use my old metal ones unless absolutely necessary. Too dangerous!

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  80. We raise Boar goats. We use the cheap heat lamps and it makes us so nervous. This heat lamp would rest everyone’s fears when using heat lamps for kids, sick goats or just extra warmth for old animals.

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  81. I discovered the Premier heat lamp a couple of years ago–we’ve used it for chicks and pigs, but I need another one for my upcoming goat kids!

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  82. Premier 1 is an excellent company, we have fencing from them, I didn’t realize they also made a heat lamp, Premier 1 is definitely a safer design. Thank-you for sharing this.

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  83. I have goats and chickens and soon will have rabbits again. I had no idea there was another kind of heat lamp! Thanks for drawing attention to it! 🙂

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  84. Have to agree, those cheap red heat lamps are horrible and anything safer is a definite plus. Sweeter Heater makes one for poultry and I quit using the red heat lamps last year, but this one looks like it would be great for baby livestock!

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  85. My wife and I starting raising hens for the first time last year and had to use the traditional heat lamp. We hope to get more chicks this spring and the Premier 1 lamp would provide so much more peace of mind!

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  86. What a great concept! Every farm/homestead could use one of these. Thanks for the great article. We would definitely put it to use if we won.

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  87. So need these. We have mini donks, chickens, chicks, piglets, rabbits, goats and their kids and a cat with new babies.

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  88. I’m building warming drums for kids, using a 55 gal drum . Would this lamp have housing that I can safely attach into the top of my drum?

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    • There is a loop on the top that you use to hang it. (You can see that in the photos.) However, if you are going to cut the drum in half as I’ve seen some do so that you actually get two huts out of one drum, then this lamp will be too long to hang inside. I’ve also seen some people cut a hole in the top of the drum and sit the lamp on top, although I’m not sure how they attach it. There is no way I’d put the cheap metal heat lamps into a warming hut though.

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  89. Heat mats for goats, brooder plates for chicks. I switched to brooder plates for my chicks when I first saw them on Premier 1. I ditched the heat lamps for good. Brooder plates work better, use less energy and have virtually no fire hazard. I can even use brooder plates in chicken tractors to brood chicks in March and April.
    I use heat mats for my goats. I buy them at Rural King. Goats can lay on the heat mats even adult goats can lay on them. Kids do well with them. There is no danger of a the goat knocking over the heat mat and virtually no fire hazard. I have been using them for years. I have two kids using one right now. They heat mats only use 40 to 60 watts depending on the size of the heat mat.
    I also use heat mats in my rabbit boxes in the winter, fall and spring for my rabbits when they are having babies. This enables me to have baby rabbits all winter long. I put hay on the heat mat and the mother rabbit makes the nest on top. I have baby rabbits right now in February that were born 4 weeks ago. Been using the rabbit heat mats for about 5 years. I live in North Central Ohio. We were below zero yesterday morning.

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  90. I also really like these heat lamps, though I’ve yet to try one. Did you know Premier 1 also provides a carbon fiber heat lamp? According to their listing, these are also safer than the regular heat lamps, and may be useful for keeping larger areas warm with a more even heat. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this type as well.

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  91. We raise chickens for eggs and meat production, as well as ducks, peacocks, guineas and our daughter has the sweetest heard of Nigerian dwarf goats.

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  92. This would have been very useful for our first kidding this year. New mom that was not interested in getting her buckling dry for awhile. I also hope to get chicks this spring.

    Reply
    • If a doe isn’t drying her kids, you need to dry them with a towel — especially if it’s cold. Otherwise, they can wind up with hypothermia, and the first thing to go is their sucking instinct when they get hypothermia, so then they don’t nurse, and then they die. I do NOT expect a doe to get her kids dry when it’s cold outside. Hypothermia is nothing to play around with.

      Reply
  93. A diverse home care agency that can provide your loved ones with the special care they need within their home environment. Our aim is to ensure that the independence, privacy, and dignity of each individual is a priority to Homecare We Care Ltd.

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  94. This would have been exceptionally helpful for our first joking this year. A new mother that was not keen on getting her clasping dry for a little while. I additionally desire to get chicks this spring.

    Reply
  95. Hi Deborah,
    If I am using the old fashioned heat lamps, until replacing them with the new ones you recommend, we use very thick zip ties to secure the lamp to a wooden barn beam.
    Cords are also completely zip tied very tight to the boards for the entire run they are in the barn. No slack.
    The other key complaint I have heard about is cob webs. It’s always a good idea to periodically visually Inspect your bulb holders inside for cob webs, and clean them out.
    However, at the start of a seasons, I have turned on heat lamps with a cob web running from the bulb to the lamps screen, and it didn’t catch fire? I imagine it would burn out pretty quickly, but you don’t want and particles of burning webs, to fall to the ground from any type of fixture.

    Reply
    • Indeed-safety has to be top priority with any heat source!
      Securing cords and keeping appliances clean are a must 🙂
      ~Tammy

      Reply

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