Extreme Heat...ideas please

[michellet]

Hi All

Just looking for some different ideas to help keep our outdoor birds cool in hot weather...we have budgies that live in a patio aviary that is impossible to bring into the house.

It's 38Cdeg here in sunny Adelaide, South Australia, and we're expecting a 43Cdeg New Years Eve tomorrow...

Of course they have plenty of fresh water, in muliple containers, and i've been misting them with cool water every hour or so. I've also draped a wet blanket over 1/3 of the front of the aviary to try to create a primitive evaporative cooling effect. I also provided soft/wet food this morning to increase their fluid intake, and some fruit too.

Any other ideas? Or is what I'm doing enough??

[TheNzJessie]

i would move some ideas to. its not quite as hot is temperature as you but its 100% humidity which is horrible!!

[captwest]

There are a few things you can do to help. Windows, look into shading or adding a film to block sunlight from heating your patio, Cheap bamboo screens can also help and if your birds are out they love tp chew on them.Misters, i bought a system from a orchid grower that really works great at cooling my avairy birds, it has a timer and a filter (to keep nozzles clear) , you might have to find a way to route piping so that the birds don't chew it but the system great. An exhaust fan (with cover/screen) could also help.

[lzver]

Oh what I wouldn't do to be in Austrailia right now. I went there on vacation (Sydney area) 8 years ago and fell in love with it

It sounds like you're doing everything you can by misting them, providing lots of fresh water and provide lots of shade for them.

[Shani]

43C?

Michelle you've gotta be kidding me >_< I really don't want that heading my way

Anyway, just keep an eye on your budgies for any signs of dehydration, but you're doing pretty much exactly what I'd do if I was in your situation, if that helps any.

[idlepirate]

How about somekind of frozen parrot lolly....like mini icecubes made from juice. there might be some recipes online, something thats safe to freeze. Even though I guess with that temperature it will just melt straight away...
Or some restaurants have those mister fans that just automatically mist out water every few seconds, feels great. but i suppose hard to get ahold of one of those.

[TheNzJessie]

How about somekind of frozen parrot lolly....like mini icecubes made from juice. there might be some recipes online, something thats safe to freeze. Even though I guess with that temperature it will just melt straight away...
Or some restaurants have those mister fans that just automatically mist out water every few seconds, feels great. but i suppose hard to get ahold of one of those.

my lorikeet goes crazy over home made mango and raisin ice blocks!

[michellet]

Well, today doesnt seem to be as hot as was forecast... it's 3pm and the max. so far has been 40Cdeg...luckily theres a cool change on the way

All the birds seem to be managing fine... better than the humans actually I think maybe i was panicking a little too much!

The tame, inside birds, Missy , Charlie & Snowy are inside enjoying the air-con...and the outside budgies seem happy too... i've placed large pans of water on the floor of the aviary and add ice cubes every hour or so so they have cool water to drink and bathe in... and i froze large bottles filled with water and have a few of them on the floor of the aviary too....they seem to appreciate them and are perched directly above them My 11yo son was on misting-duty while i was at work earlier, and sprayed them all with cool water from the fridge every 30mins while i was gone....he's such a good boy...he also added more ice cubes to their drinking water too because he did his own research and found out that budgies wont drink water if it gets warm.

We're going to keep an eye out for old style water coolers, and if we have a heatwave (which we most definately will...this is only the begining of our summer) we'll place one outside the aviary with the cool air blowing in.