Parrots and Cold

[forbey]

I pulled the following quote from another thread. weco, I hope you don't mind?

My question relates to what I've heard about birds and drafts. I'm trying to wrap my head around the subject so I'm fully comfortable with Skittles and the possibility that the house could lose power in the winter.

I live in central Illinois. We have had winters as low as -17 *F. In a moderately cold winter we can have temps between 5 and 20 F. How cold can my BFA get before I find him in the frozen food section of the living room?

Is there a difference between jus being COLD and a bird that ends up in a cold drafty situation?

My goal is to keep my house comfortable for Skittles, two dogs and two middle-aged humans. However, stuff happens and I want to be prepared, but not scared>

Forbey

Save your $$$ Kellie, our feathered friends are much better at handling cold weather than we humans are.....in fact, they easily handle freezing temps, while static air with temps in the 80s can easily heat stress them.....

When temps get cold.....below 40 degrees F, you might see birds shivering, but unlike we humans who shiver for lack of heat, our feathered friends are generating body heat by shivering their flight muscles.....another way birds keep feet & legs warm is to squat down, over their legs & feet, puffing out their feathers just enough to direct body heat down, over these extremities.....birds are much better equipped to handle those cool temps you & I grab our parkas for.....

There are breeders in Europe who break the ice every morning in their birds' water bowls...and...those birds do fine without heated perches.....

Forget the heated perch & treat yourself to a manicure or pedicure.....

 

[Mayden]

Slow decreases in temperature results in birds becoming acclimatised.

I'll give you an example. You're in Illinois, I'm from the UK. The temps you're describing are absolutely shocking to me, where the lowest we seem to ever get in a "killer winter" it -6c (which is 20F). That puts us UK folk in boarded up houses with fires blazing, central heating on and 6 sweaters. For you, that probably just feels a little more chilly than usual... because you're used to it. Merlin, if moved into your house from here in the UK, would struggle, your Skittles, should not so much because he's had time, just like you, for his body to get used to what are "normal temperatures".

If it's the case of the house being kept toasty during winter and a sudden drop - yes I'd be concerned. The best thing I can suggest is basically ensuring that your bird has BIG towel type things to cover his cage during the power outages, making sure to keep all that heat he's producing 'locked' up in his cage for the most part. Ensuring there is no draft from outdoors getting to him and generally ensuring that your house has adequate insulation

It gets 'cold' here and we have worried about the birds but we just whack big snuggy blanketsover the cages and they never seem to fuss. We don't take the birds outside during winter (unless it's a quick dash to the car for them) and they're always 'wrapped up' during that time (with a big slot for fresh air to get to them!).

In all honesty, I think you'll be fine, plenty of people cope with their birds and they do acclimatise quite well if given the chance. It's just the sudden drops you need to be more beady eye about.

Signs your bird is cold would basically be things like staying still on perches, fluffing up, wanting to eat alot, but maybe feeling too sleepy/cold to want to move. Cold toes!

If you have the ability to heat water (I dunno how you draw power to your house for things like that) then if you've got a 'grate' on your cage then I'd suggest putting a hot water bottle under the grate and let the heat radiate up to your Skittles.

Sorry for the ramble... did I answer this right? Haha

 

[weco]

Not a problem Forbey.....though it does overshoot the copyright fair use limitation by 3X, I'll advise my solicitors I personally approved your use........

I will agree with Mayden's solution, unless you live in an 'all electric' home, without a fireplace.....in that event you might want to look at emergency supplemental heat & might suggest "Buddy Heater" models by Mr. Heater.....they can keep a 80sf room toastie.....just be sure to have other propane bottles on hand for the long haul & those lake-effect blizzards, if you're in northern IL.....oh, and keep the temps lower than you normally set your thermostat at.....saves propane.....

 

[forbey]

Actually, we just opened up what used to be the breezeway between the house and the garage and turned it into our living room. We need to do some upgrading, but the former breezeway has a stunning fireplace in it.

Our house is heated with gas, but it is distributed with electric fans. Our plans are to instal a generator with an automatic start, should the power cut off.

Thanks both! weco, I promise to work on the copywrite problems ... have your people call my people!

Forbey

 

[MonicaMc]

All I know is that birds can survive being outside in the snow.... either for short periods of time, or if they have been acclimated to it.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13XmlniLKd4]Charlie Flying Outside - YouTube[/ame]



And my birds endure temps into the low 50's at night during the colder times of the year, when it's even colder outside. In the winter, the house is set to only warm up twice a day.... morning and evening. Everyone is asleep at night or away from home during the day, so those are the times the heater comes on. This has not seemed to negatively effect my birds at all.