Article: Summer Heat - Keeping Your Bird Cool

[Kevin]

Article Provided by: Freedomflight



Keep your pet birds cool.

This heat wave has been brutal, on both human and animal alike. What a way to kick off the summer!

I know that, at least in my neck of the woods, we've been sweating it out each and every summer. I am so thankful for my air conditioning. Hot weather always causes me to come up with alternatives to keeping my pets cool. What are some alternative options to good, reliable, air conditioning, that I could use in
case (goodness forbid) it went out?

For your indoor birds, you have a couple options.

- Ice cubes in the water. Quick easy way to give your bird access to something cool

- Feed some frozen veggies. You can run a bag of organic frozen veggies under hot water for a minute or less to slightly unthaw, and then place in your birds cage. A great treat, easy to make, and will help beat the heat.

- Save your empty 2 liter bottles of pop. Fill with water and store in the freezer. If you need heat relief in a pinch, take the bottles and put them in front of a fan. Fan will blow cold air off the bottle and help cool
the area down.

- Spray your bird with cool water. Tried and true, a quick fix for a hot day.


For birds that are located outside in aviaries or cages:

- make sure the birds have protection from the direct sun. Fixing a tarp over the cage/aviary will help ward off direct rays.

- make sure the birds have plenty of access to water

- If your bird is in an outdoor cage, try and keep the cage off of concrete. Concrete reflects heat back and can really contribute to the heat factor in an immediate area.

- Ice in the water, as mentioned above.

- Use common sense.


Never attempt to apply sun block to your bird. If you are worried about how your bird takes the heat, don't push the limits. Birds can adapt to heat better then they can handle the cold, but heat can still kill. If your heat wave is extreme and you are without a way of cooling your house down, consider taking your birds on a trip to a friends house, perhaps a local pet store, or someplace that you and your pets can safely escape the hot temperatures.

[hollyhawkz]

Thanks Kevin!
It is blistering here and all though I do most of the things you mentioned (lots of water and spray downs) I was always uncertain of ice cubes for a bird as I heard they trap nitrogen. Also, is it ok to have a fan directly blowing on your bird? I was wondering about the draught thing.