Moving out of state with lots of little birds

[DirtyBirdieHippie]

Hello again!

I've done some of my own research on this subject, and found some great advice, but I would like to know as much as possible before crunch time rolls around, and thought that reaching out to this community might help reassure my concerns.

I am beginning a very lengthy trek from Arizona to Oregon in about 4 months, calculated by google maps to be about 19 hours of driving! While I may already have the humans all squared away for the trip, the birds are a bit more challenging, to say the least.

I have read that parrots can stay hydrated with F&V instead of water, which means Rosie (Crimson-bellied Conure) is mostly taken care of if I'm sure to pack the favorites I know she'll eat, and to give her water on stops. I have heard mixed opinions on whether to keep her covered for the trip or to let her watch the road...?

Here's the REAL kicker. I have a 6ft tall mixed flight finch aviary (thankfully on wheels) to move. As much as it pains me to admit it, catching every single one in a net and separating them between several travel cages seems like it makes more sense than keeping them all in the same cage, wedged carefully in a corner in the dark of a trailer for a grueling 19 hour trip on a noisy, occasionally bumpy road with little breathers in between. Yikes!

Besides extensive supplementation for their little immune systems beforehand, do you have any suggestions for how I can reduce the stress on all of my feathered family?

 

[Birdman666]

Well, I moved from California to Texas with two macaws, two amazons and a CAG, and zero travel cages... without incident.

Mine were car trained from early on, and love, love, love car rides. So that part wasn't ever the issue. They were content to just sit and look out the window.

When I stopped to eat. They got out of the car and on playstands to eat and drink when we did. They had things like grapes and oranges in the car, which has its own fluids. So dehydration was never an issue.

The only real issue was my greenwing wanting to climb into bed with me at the motel. (It's hard to sleep with a greenwing perched on your chest.)

Mine were fine with it.

Yours? Take them out in the car and see what happens. If they freak out, they may need to be covered. Otherwise, they'll probably do better looking out the window.

 

[SilverSage]

Im of the opinion that unless your bird seems overly stressed by being allowed to see what's going on, let them. Your crimson is young enough that this should be no problem at all.

As for the finches, I do NOT suggest the trailer. Having ridden in the back of a horser trailer and opened up moving trailers after a few hours, even when the weather is nice, I would never do that. Seems they would most likely be too cold or too hot. I would say, as much work as it will be, you REALLY should catch them and put them in cages. Not to mention the much higher likelihood of the aviary being mishandled and potentially breaking or tearing as opposed to small cages. I feel the chance of escape is much greater in the aviary.

Other than that, just be mindful of temperature for the most part. If you are moving in winter haveblankets to wrap the cages in before you open doors at gas stations, etc. Do your best to minimize temp fluctuation, do your best to make sure they have access to food and water, wire cage doors shut if the situation calls for it, just basically make sure no one is roasting, freezing, or escaping.

 

[Birdman666]

Oregon this time of year will most likely be too cold to have them in an uncontrolled temperature environment. I assumed we were talking about the birds being inside the vehicle.

 

[getwozzy]

Yes, Oregon is really cold right now- but in 4 months you might be able to get away with it. I still wouldn't recommend traveling with them in the trailer- I think it would be way less stressful for them if they were in the car.

 

[DirtyBirdieHippie]

Thank you all so much for the great advice!

I'd decided quite some time ago that the travel cages were the best option. As much as it breaks my heart to have to catch them all by hand, a few moments of getting chased and caught is HEAPS better than hours of getting jostled around in a cold, noisy trailer. Getting my Mother to agree, however, was pretty difficult - she loves them just as much as I do, but she was hoping we could find a way to pack everything up in one bundle.

As much as I've already been reading about them on my own, deciding is tricky - does anyone have any particular supplements they can recommend? I once had a molting supplement that worked wonders for my canary's molt and a fledging gouldian finch, would that do just fine?

I think I may be worrying/overthinking it too much; though I have to say it's comforting to find a forum that treats their little birdies like kids the way I do!!

 

[goalerjones]

Are u moving to a state that has bigger birds?