Nothing teaches us lessons better than other folks tragedies! Vicki

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Subject: fire in the nursery

Yesterday I came home to a fire blazing in the nursery where I had one doe, her two doe yearlings, and her one day old baby.

We believed that no one was saved. (All white, experimental breed) (cross between Nubian and Saanen)

When we got up this morning, we called the vet to come and look at the herd as they seemed to be traumatized by the whole ordeal.

In gathering everyone to the barn we found a young doe that we had never seen before. She was tawny, and seemed to be very diseased with "flies" all over her. Her nose was runny, she was shaking, her eyes matted shut. In checking closer, we realized that this was Snow White -- one of the yearlings.

The vet gave her a pain shot and antibiotic. We know she will probably be blind if she survives. We are giving her Gatorade and "kick start" which is a calf product. Her breathing is like that of someone with a severe cold. She can swallow, and the "flies" are singed fur.

If she quits taking the syringes of liquid, we have some liquid to put under her skin.

If anyone has any other suggestions, I would appreciate hearing them. We really thought the vet would say "Put her down", but he seems to think as I do, there is a reason she survived this long. I feel maybe we should change her name to Phoenix.

Any help you have will be greatly appreciated, and the discussion of the heating elements is very timely. Thanks. We know a heat lamp started the fire.

We feel such a loss. We don't view them as "goats" -- they are our kids.

Thanks again for your help!

Su Vincent and Steve Lewis

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 01, 2002

Answers

Response to Heat Lamp Warnings

Such a sad, sad story. I do hope your friends doe will survive this. But there is a lesson to be learned here. I never use heat lamps now. I was lucky. I came into the barn where I had a heat lamp hanging and smelled something burning. A ewe had backed under a heat lamp with hay pieces on her back and her wool had started to scorch and smolder and a piece of the hay was actually sparking!A disaster was averted. After that, the heat lamps went in the garbage. Now I use old wool sweater sleeves for the lambs and they work great. Like you say, live and learn.

-- Kate henderson (kate@sheepyvalley.com), January 02, 2002.

Response to Heat Lamp Warnings

Vicki, So sorry to hear of that horrible accident, I would be devastated, I don't use heat lamps either. Old sweatshirts from garage sales work great. I guess it would depend on how she does if I decided to put her down or not, it will probably take a long time for her to get over it. My heart goes to you and your kids.

-- Barbara (vozarbi@sensible-net.com), January 02, 2002.

We had a similar incident to Kate's. You'd think the ewe would move, but it's exactly the kind of presumtion that get's you in trouble. Very sorry to hear of your friends troubles; I wish them well.

-- Ross (amulet@istar.ca), January 02, 2002.

We had almost the same thing happen here about 15 years ago. Had some baby chicks on the back porch under a heat lamp and went to visit my mom. My brother in law -who is a Houston firefighter-drove by the house-saw smoke-then noticed my car wasn't there. The back porch was engulfed in flames. Luckily, he knew just what to do-put the fire out- even climbed in the attic to make sure nothing was smoltering up there. We kept our deep freezer on the porch at the time and lost all of the food in it. Needless to say-heat lamps are a Big no-no around here-nearly cost us our home!! susie

-- susie yeager (susiemby@samlink.com), January 02, 2002.

The only time I use a heat lamp is in my horse trailer when I have bottle babies and the lamp is high and tightly secured. What I use in the barn is a pig warmer that is a six foot piece of long plastic with two sides that the babies can lay against. Works real fine and does not get too hot. A friend of mine lost her whole barn and a part of her flock. You can get a pig warmer in a vet supply book like Jeffers or at your feed store. They are not too expensive and I would not be without one. Terry

-- Terry Lipe (elipe@fidnet.com), January 02, 2002.

I am deeply sorry for your loss Vickie, and hope you can pull the doe through, if anyone can, it will be you.

Yes, heat lamps are potentially dangerous, but they must be used at times, like brooding chicks and keeping newborn animals warm in inclement weather. You must be sure they are up out of reach of the animals at all times, that no easily flammable things like hay or straw are underneath them, that they have a stout wire guard covering the bulb face, that they are fastened to the supporting surface with unbreakable materials, and most importantly, connected to a reliable circuit breaker that will immediatly "trip" if there is a short or fault, like the ground fault interrupter switches used in bathrooms.

We have used red heat lamps on the farm for over 20 years, and have had the special circuit breaker trip on us only twice, but it did it's job and averted a possible fire.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), January 02, 2002.

I have also gotten some really sweet personal emails, and I forwarded them to the folks this happened to. This did not happen to me! Me with Saanens? Me with a heatlamp in Texas! Me with 3 goats? LOL But what wonderful mail I got! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 02, 2002.

Vickie, Please give my condolences to Su and Steve. I had vindictive relatives of my landlord, burn down my barn. They were mad at their sister for getting the farm. It was devastating as I lost all my kids and rabbits and chickens and all the stuff we had stored in the loft. I cried for days over the loss of my "kids". This happened years ago in Tennessee, and it still hurts. My heat lamp story had a better ending as the doe and kids were saved as well as the barn, that was in Kansas. I still use heat lamps when I have to but they are watched closely and well secured with no hay around.

-- Karen in Kansas (kansasgoats@iwon.com), January 02, 2002.

Vicki, this morning, I read in the Wisconsin State Journal that a dairy farmer up in Fond Du Lac County lost his entire barn and the attached silo to a fire this weekend. The really sad part was the loss of 10 calves. The preliminary investigation revealed the cause to be a heat lamp! After reading this thread, I'm really glad we are installing a water-to-air heat exchanger in our barn. It will run off the outdoor woodburning furnace.

-- Steve in So. WI (Alpine1@prodigy.net), January 02, 2002.

Oh Karen! How horrible. I know how I am and I would be writing this from the Death Row had I known for sure who did that to me! A friend of mine up north uses heat lamps, but each of them is connected to the top of boxes that have wire lids, the kids live in the boxes underneath. The lamps can't move from the wire, and the kids or pups can't reach the wire. It still would bother me though. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 02, 2002.