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No AC, how do I bird proof open windows?

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No AC, how do I bird proof open windows?

Postby Katamount » Fri Apr 22, 2016 6:50 pm

My budgies have always been fine with just a normal window screen. I have a feeling my quaker that I'm now fostering will be a different story. They get free flight in the bird room while I'm at work, so I need the window to be both open and secure for the entire time I'm gone. Any suggestions? And closing he window won't be practical. It's downright boiling in the summer, sometimes. :monk: *
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Re: No AC, how do I bird proof open windows?

Postby Michael » Fri Apr 22, 2016 7:53 pm

Window screens with supervision is fine. Just make sure they aren't damaged.
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Re: No AC, how do I bird proof open windows?

Postby Wolf » Fri Apr 22, 2016 8:24 pm

Perhaps you could have another layer of hardware cloth added to the outside of the current window screens. The additional layer of hardware cloth would not only prevent a possible escape but it would also be added protection from ground based as well as avian predators.
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Re: No AC, how do I bird proof open windows?

Postby liz » Sat Apr 23, 2016 6:18 am

Welcome to the forum.

Wolf has it right again. they will pick holes into your screens and the screens will not protct them from preditors. My son has been putting hardware cloth on the windows and on the screen door that seperates them from the other critters. They are free to fly in their own room so they need extra critter proofing.
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Re: No AC, how do I bird proof open windows?

Postby Navre » Sat Apr 23, 2016 9:20 am

You can build a frame with hardware cloth and put it in the window, just like a window fan fits. If the bird is going to be unsupervised, you will probably want to avoid the usual, galvanized stuff, as it is coated with zinc. Stainless steel is more expensive, but you won't be needing a whole lot.

If you can't find stainless, I've heard that washing the galvanized stuff with vinegar makes it safer for th birds. I don't know how this works. I suspect it removes a layer of powdery oxidation that is easy to ingest. It won't, however, help if the bird chews off a piece of the coating.
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Re: No AC, how do I bird proof open windows?

Postby Katamount » Sat Apr 23, 2016 11:12 am

Thanks so much guys! I'm going to build a frame and screen it with hardware cloth, then fit my window fan in that. I can't take the sweltering summers without a window fan, and I doubt my birdies, dog, or cat could take it either. :thumbsup:
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Re: No AC, how do I bird proof open windows?

Postby Pajarita » Sat Apr 23, 2016 1:16 pm

I don't like leaving a window open when I am not around (I would worry that the bird chews on the hardware cloth frame and knocks it down, etc. ) so what I do is fit a window fan in each window. I get the kind that has a thermostat so you can set it to start at a certain temperature (mostly for the nights) and that has the option of intake or exhaust in both fans (like this one: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lasko-8-in-E ... /203067772) so, when it's hot, I put one on the top part of one window on exhaust (so it sucks the hot air out of the room) and another one on the lower part of the other window on intake (so it blows outside air in). This creates a nice draft in the room and keeps it cool enough for them (it also 'traps' dander and allows outdoors humidity in so the system works as a cooling/air purifier/humidifier too :D ).
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