Happened to us last summer. Rang my mum panicking cos the fluttering noise was panicking my 3 year old. She said just wait for the noise to stop theres not a lot else you can do. Anyway the bird settled down, we forgot all about it, and I went upstairs leaving my son and baby for a minute. Somehow the bird managed to get through a gap in the fire and flew around the room banging into all the glass windows, doors and patio doors. My son was terrified and I had to go in and get the kids out and open the patio doors. Then we all waited in the kitchen till my mum came and checked it had gone for us. Since then the fluttering noise terrifies me and roots me to the spot. My advice is get any children and pets well out the way, and if you have patio doors open them before you get the fire off.
Tried taking the fire apart. Its stuck to the wall and dont wana mess about with it to much. I'm going to have to wait till my mums home from work lol and see what she thinks. I tried the fire brigade and thay say to ring the Gas. Gas say ring someone to come and unfit the fire.
Wish i had of gone to college this morning now lol.
Happened to us last summer. Rang my mum panicking cos the fluttering noise was panicking my 3 year old. She said just wait for the noise to stop there's not a lot else you can do. Anyway the bird settled down, we forgot all about it, and I went upstairs leaving my son and baby for a minute. Somehow the bird managed to get through a gap in the fire and flew around the room banging into all the glass windows, doors and patio doors. My son was terrified and I had to go in and get the kids out and open the patio doors. Then we all waited in the kitchen till my mum came and checked it had gone for us. Since then the fluttering noise terrifies me and roots me to the spot. My advice is get any children and pets well out the way, and if you have patio doors open them before you get the fire off.
Sounds like a lot of unnecessary panicking there, Dimples. That's not how we won the war! Maybe your son was panicking because he saw that the adults were?
No need for any alarm unless you had a golden eagle down your chimney — which would have been interesting rather than frightening. What kind of bird was it?
There was a similar case on Wildlife SOS (a TV programme following the work of a wildlife sanctuary in Surrey) where they actually had a plumber amongst their volunteers - Malcolm I think his name is - and he went out and released the bird and put the fire back. Worth checking to see if you have any such organistion near you.
Mum had this happen to her last year. She is in a council house though, I guess the OP isn't? She rang the council and someone came out within an hour, removed the fire and the metal plate behind it, and released a terrified jackdaw back outside. No soot, no mess, no fuss. Please don't just let it die.
Funnily enough, I attended night school to study a course which taught us to deal with eventualities such as this one, so I would;
1. Get up on the top deck of your gaff (the roof)
2. Lash out your Hoover nozzle
3. Penetrate the chimney hole with the Hoover nozzle
4. Switch the Hoover on
5. Continue sucking until there is a cloggage
6. Pull your nozzle out of the Chimney
Hopefully, the cloggage will be revealed as the bird. The body should be in the nozzle and the head should be poking out the top in classic comedy style.
7. Turn off the Hoover
8. Tw*t the nozzle against the roof until the bird falls out
9. If the bird doesnt fall out, jam a screwdriver down the sides to jimmy it out.
Just googled Transco for the number - they seem to have changed a lot since I last called them - Clicky Don't know how impressed they'll be if you call them for a stuck bird nowadays. But they can only tell you to p'off.
Best bet now is probably wait till the morning and if you can still hear it, call a gas engineer/plumber. Otherwise wait until it starts to smell or the fire's annual service.
Tell them the chimney's on fire they'll soon drown the bird for you.
Anyway I'll take a wild guess that the OP is female or a man who doesn't 'do' getting their hands dirty?
Find a male who does 'do' getting their hands dirty. Take the damn fire off, towel or blanket over the top and capture the bird.
That said I don't like birds much unless someone's shooting them.
You don't want me to tell you the diseases that pigeons carry do you?
Nahh didn't think so...
Being careful of course not to cause a gas leak. And unless OP is CORGI registered, he'd best check the legality and effect on house hold insurance if he tries to replace it himself. Preferably before dying of CO poisoning or blowing up the house.
Funnily enough, I attended night school to study a course which taught us to deal with eventualities such as this one, so I would;
1. Get up on the top deck of your gaff (the roof)
2. Lash out your Hoover nozzle
3. Penetrate the chimney hole with the Hoover nozzle
4. Switch the Hoover on
5. Continue sucking until there is a cloggage
6. Pull your nozzle out of the Chimney
Hopefully, the cloggage will be revealed as the bird. The body should be in the nozzle and the head should be poking out the top in classic comedy style.
7. Turn off the Hoover
8. Tw*t the nozzle against the roof until the bird falls out
9. If the bird doesnt fall out, jam a screwdriver down the sides to jimmy it out.
You've got one of those V8 turbonutterb'stard hoovers haven't you?
Some of us only have standard jobbies that don't come with their own power supply.
Rang the Fire Brigade, thay cant do nothing said to ring the Gas company. Rang the Gas, said thay cant do nothing ring a fire fitter. Rang a fire fitter £80 quid.
When it first fell down it was weird, i though it was rubble falling and the cat who was a sleep ran towards the fire (luckily turned off) and starred at it. Then there was lots of flapping which then i realised a bird. Flapping stopped for 5 min and then it started sqwarking, and then more flapping. Then nothing till 3.30pm when i heard more sqwarking and then more flapping and thats it. Nothing for 5 hours.
Being careful of course not to cause a gas leak. And unless OP is CORGI registered, he'd best check the legality and effect on house hold insurance if he tries to replace it himself. Preferably before dying of CO poisoning or blowing up the house.
Hence find someone who's a bit handy and do a simple bit of leak checking.
Then again I'd be surprised if you couldn't get enough room without opening up the pipework.
Rang the Fire Brigade, thay cant do nothing said to ring the Gas company. Rang the Gas, said thay cant do nothing ring a fire fitter. Rang a fire fitter £80 quid.
When it first fell down it was weird, i though it was rubble falling and the cat who was a sleep ran towards the fire (luckily turned off) and starred at it. Then there was lots of flapping which then i realised a bird. Flapping stopped for 5 min and then it started sqwarking, and then more flapping. Then nothing till 3.30pm when i heard more sqwarking and then more flapping and thats it. Nothing for 5 hours.
I'd want a service included for £80. In which case, it's not bad. Off, hoover, on, safety check on flue, pressure test on gas supply. Probably double this time of night.
Hence find someone who's a bit handy and do a simple bit of leak checking.
Then again I'd be surprised if you couldn't get enough room without opening up the pipework.
I'd be surprised if you could get CO poisoning from replacing a Gas fire yourself, even if it was leaking. It's not the leaking gas that causes the problem, it's the gas that isn't burning properly.
Faulty appliances cause death, leaking gas rarely.
I'd be surprised if you could get CO poisoning from replacing a Gas fire yourself, even if it was leaking. It's not the leaking gas that causes the problem, it's the gas that isn't burning properly.
Faulty appliances cause death, leaking gas rarely.
Could do if not put in properly - hence the flue test. Or if the appliance is damaged while being replaced.
I take it you still haven't rung the RSPCA or the RSPB?
If I lived round the corner from you, I'd bloody well come round and get the poor thing out myself. I can't believe some of the cruel oh-so-hilarously-funny remarks on this thread. :mad:
I take it you still haven't rung the RSPCA or the RSPB?
If I lived round the corner from you, I'd bloody well come round and get the poor thing out myself. I can't believe some of the cruel oh-so-hilarously-funny remarks on this thread. :mad:
If the OP can even get through to the RSPCA, they'll tell him to ring a gas engineer.
Comments
Wish i had of gone to college this morning now lol.
which takes you back to the fire brigade ..
No need for any alarm unless you had a golden eagle down your chimney — which would have been interesting rather than frightening. What kind of bird was it?
"Daddy a bird fell down the chimney"
"I'll get it after my dinner" says my dad, assuming that the bird is dead.
"No, no, hes scaring me, come and get him now!"
So off my dad goes, then shouts us all through.
Large wood pigeon, sitting bold as brass on the fireplace, emitting a gentle "cooing" noise.
Dad chucks a towel over it and carries it outside, where it flew happily off into the sunset, never to return.
Tell them the chimney's on fire they'll soon drown the bird for you.
Anyway I'll take a wild guess that the OP is female or a man who doesn't 'do' getting their hands dirty?
Find a male who does 'do' getting their hands dirty.
Take the damn fire off, towel or blanket over the top and capture the bird.
That said I don't like birds much unless someone's shooting them.
You don't want me to tell you the diseases that pigeons carry do you?
Nahh didn't think so...
1. Get up on the top deck of your gaff (the roof)
2. Lash out your Hoover nozzle
3. Penetrate the chimney hole with the Hoover nozzle
4. Switch the Hoover on
5. Continue sucking until there is a cloggage
6. Pull your nozzle out of the Chimney
Hopefully, the cloggage will be revealed as the bird. The body should be in the nozzle and the head should be poking out the top in classic comedy style.
7. Turn off the Hoover
8. Tw*t the nozzle against the roof until the bird falls out
9. If the bird doesnt fall out, jam a screwdriver down the sides to jimmy it out.
Best bet now is probably wait till the morning and if you can still hear it, call a gas engineer/plumber. Otherwise wait until it starts to smell or the fire's annual service.
Being careful of course not to cause a gas leak. And unless OP is CORGI registered, he'd best check the legality and effect on house hold insurance if he tries to replace it himself. Preferably before dying of CO poisoning or blowing up the house.
You've got one of those V8 turbonutterb'stard hoovers haven't you?
Some of us only have standard jobbies that don't come with their own power supply.
You've got an extension cable havent you? Or atleast, can get your grubby hands on one for 20 minutes.
When it first fell down it was weird, i though it was rubble falling and the cat who was a sleep ran towards the fire (luckily turned off) and starred at it. Then there was lots of flapping which then i realised a bird. Flapping stopped for 5 min and then it started sqwarking, and then more flapping. Then nothing till 3.30pm when i heard more sqwarking and then more flapping and thats it. Nothing for 5 hours.
Hence find someone who's a bit handy and do a simple bit of leak checking.
Then again I'd be surprised if you couldn't get enough room without opening up the pipework.
I'd want a service included for £80. In which case, it's not bad. Off, hoover, on, safety check on flue, pressure test on gas supply. Probably double this time of night.
Did you try 0800 111 999?
I'd be surprised if you could get CO poisoning from replacing a Gas fire yourself, even if it was leaking. It's not the leaking gas that causes the problem, it's the gas that isn't burning properly.
Faulty appliances cause death, leaking gas rarely.
What is involved in 'simple ... leak checking':eek:
Lighting matches until the house goes up?
Or getting a meter on the supply with all gas appliances turned off & bubble test. Like the £80 CORGI engineer will do.
To get the bird out when it happened to me, the whole housing had to be removed.
Could do if not put in properly - hence the flue test. Or if the appliance is damaged while being replaced.
If I lived round the corner from you, I'd bloody well come round and get the poor thing out myself. I can't believe some of the cruel oh-so-hilarously-funny remarks on this thread. :mad:
If the OP can even get through to the RSPCA, they'll tell him to ring a gas engineer.
I had some bird half dead in my drive all day once. The RSPB said they cant be arsed coming out to sort it (or words to that effect).
I still stand by my original sentiment - smoke the frigger out. He's trespassing and you are well within your rights to defend yourself.