With the increasing interest in raising poultry in the Virgin Islands, Commissioner Louis E. Petersen Jr., PhD. is alerting poultry owners to be careful when using certain heat lamps and other light bulbs around birds, according to a press release issued Friday by the V.I. Department of Agriculture.
While heat lamps are often used for young chicks in their first few weeks — and most of these bulbs are safe — there is a new type of heat lamp labeled “shatter-proof” that has come on the market and could be dangerous to birds.
“The new ‘shatter-proof’ heat lamps are coated with Teflon, or PTFE, and can be extremely dangerous for birds,” Petersen said. “When Teflon is heated on a light bulb or a cooking pan, it releases a gas which can harm, even kill, chicks or pet birds.”
According to Dr. Bethany Bradford, director of Veterinary Services for VIDOA, chickens and pet birds are extremely sensitive to the gas given off by heated Teflon. “Affected birds will show signs of respiratory distress such as open-beak breathing but, unfortunately, most birds will die very quickly without signs,” Bradford said.
According to Bradford, there is no treatment for birds that are exposed to the Teflon gas, so owners must be careful when purchasing light bulbs for use around birds. Pet bird owners, too, need to keep pet birds out of the kitchen and away from Teflon coated cookware.
For more information, contact the Department of Agriculture on St. Croix at 778-0998 and St. Thomas at 774-5182 and St. John at 776-6274.