How to keep birds warm with no electricity?

[Mr_Tarell]

I live on Long Island and we recently had hurricane sandy. Many people lost electricity, homes, valuables, and even their loved ones. Thankfully my family and I are safe and warm.

There is a Nor'aster coming this week and we can be out of power/ electricity. For those of you who do not know what a Nor'easter is: Nor'easters can occur in the eastern United States any time between October and April, when moisture and cold air are plentiful. They are known for dumping heavy amounts of rain and snow, producing hurricane-force winds, and creating high surfs that cause severe beach erosion and coastal flooding.

In case we loose power, how do I keep my birds warm. I have 3 budgies and one alexandrine. Us humans can wear layers and layers of clothing and drink hot tea and coffee. How do I keep them warm? Thank you guys very much!

 

[Birdlover11]

Last week we lost electricity but not water. I kept my budgies warm by using hot steamy water and they loved it. They also love being in the blanket with me.

 

[MikeyTN]

When I lost power during a snow storm one year out in the country side in South Dakota. We were forced to use kerosene heaters to keep the birds warm. The fume isn't safe no but it kept everyone alive til the power came back on a few days later. I also put blankets around everyone's cage. I had no casualties....

 

[lene1949]

Birds have got feather and down to keep themselves warm.. If they're inside a house with no wind factor, they'll be fine...

 

[JerseyWendy]

I agree with Lene. The birds will be fine. You could wrap blankets around the cage to keep some of the heat inside, but in all honesty I think it's not necessary.

I am definitely NOT looking forward to this new storm, especially since my neighborhood's power has still not been completely restored. :31:

 

[drew92]

Down here in the boonies of va we didnt loose power till after sandy... luckily we gave a gas fireplace that will heat the whole house. Personally i would recommend the mr heater buddy heater. Its an indoor safe propane heater that works amazing. Darn things got more safety features than my truck. And it only cost around 50 bucks. Just keep it on the opposite side of the room. It will heat an uninsulated shead to 80 deg when its 24 deg outside it was a 20x10 shead

 

[MaraWentz]

We lost power and had nothing and our Erin pretend all her feathers during the hurricane and ended up completely fluffy and white by the time we were out of power. She was shivering up a storm and slept all day like everyone else and so we just threw her under the blankets with US and eventually she warmed up and liked it and didn't look for an escape lol

 

[MikeyTN]

Even though inside the house, they can still catch a cold! It all depends on what temperature it drops down to. They need to be slowly acclimated to the change in temperature, not sudden drops! Yes they can keep themselves warm like us but should you take the risk? Especially if blizzards outside, the temperature gets quite cold even though it's not outside. Last winter we were about to move all of our birds to my friend's house if the power didn't come back on as the temperature kept dropping and it was in the 40's by the time electricity came back on, it was snowing out and the power company showed up 6 hrs later after we called.

 

[MaraWentz]

Good rule of thumb for heat, if it's too hot cold for a baby then it's too hot or cold for your birds

 

[saracuse]

I know this thread is super old now, but this just amazed me. I live in Upstate New York (we get some crazy, crazy winters) Did you ever have a problem with the propane heaters (Mr. Buddy) or the kerosene heaters? The fumes are pretty intense. I just wonder if its safe for the birds. I just recently got in a little tiff with my father-in-law over this issue as we were having some work done on our house (used in the garage to keep it warm to work in) and the fumes came right in the house and i had a pretty scratchy throat. I was scared to death it would kill Tiki and make him stop working and remove the heaters!!

 

[SailBoat]

I know this thread is super old now, but this just amazed me. I live in Upstate New York (we get some crazy, crazy winters) Did you ever have a problem with the propane heaters (Mr. Buddy) or the kerosene heaters? The fumes are pretty intense. I just wonder if its safe for the birds. I just recently got in a little tiff with my father-in-law over this issue as we were having some work done on our house (used in the garage to keep it warm to work in) and the fumes came right in the house and i had a pretty scratchy throat. I was scared to death it would kill Tiki and make him stop working and remove the heaters!!

Kerosene Fuel burns very dirty and can quickly cause problems for Adult Humans and can be downright dangerous for children and those with heart /lung problems. At one point they 'had been' very popular, but are rarely used because of their history of making people sick or just killing them. Since Parrots (birds) have a much more sensitive lung (air sacks) the deadly results is just that much quicker.

NOTE: Most All States Have Very Demanding Building Codes Regarding the Type of Door /Seals that are to be used between the Garage and Home to keep the air from the Garage (think running Automobiles) from entering the home! Also, the heat loss and therefore the cost to heat the home would be decreased by upgrading that door. Consider it as a 'Kind Gift' from you and yours to him and your mother in law! Most Big Box Stores Sell the Doors and have installation Staff!

Natural Gas and Propane Gas burn much clear and are 'generally' safer. BUT, All Heaters that use them on very strong Warnings regarding using them indoors!

If your In Law uses either for the heating of their home, there are full home or selected service generators that are by design able to use the 'Normal Supply Source Fuel' to run the generator. Although this option is much more expensive, the number of winter, spring, summer and fall Storms your area of the country gets. I would recommend looking closely at their use. They are available from manual start-up to fully automated units. Selection should be based on abilities of the individuals, looking ten years into the future.

 

[saracuse]

SailBoat! Thanks for the info!

The only reason the smell was coming into the house was we have a raised ranch and the door from the basement into the garage was opening and closing over and over. Normally we have no issues at all. We have propane to heat our house as we don't have natural gas in this area yet, we've never had a problem with our tanks. We have an oil radiator style heater that we use in our living room (Tiki's room) on those days that its in the negatives outside. We usually keep the heat between 66 (at night) and max 70 during the day. My only concern was really in an emergency situation is using a propane heater like https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-F232000-Indoor-Safe-Portable/dp/B002G51BZU around Tiki going to kill her or cause serious harm?

 

[SailBoat]

SailBoat! Thanks for the info!

The only reason the smell was coming into the house was we have a raised ranch and the door from the basement into the garage was opening and closing over and over. Normally we have no issues at all. We have propane to heat our house as we don't have natural gas in this area yet, we've never had a problem with our tanks. We have an oil radiator style heater that we use in our living room (Tiki's room) on those days that its in the negatives outside. We usually keep the heat between 66 (at night) and max 70 during the day. My only concern was really in an emergency situation is using a propane heater like https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Heater-F232000-Indoor-Safe-Portable/dp/B002G51BZU around Tiki going to kill her or cause serious harm?

Thanks for the additional information!

The heater you reference is not your standard 'open flame' heater and as stated can be used indoors. Assure that you (drive yourself nuts) read the full manual that comes with this style heater. I rarely push this, but!!! This type of heater is safe when used precisely as defined in the manual. I know that reading the manual is boring, but!!!

The most common concern with this type of heater is an over pressurized propane tank or a faulty regulator! Its been a couple of years since I read those directions, so refer to the manual if i differ from it!!! Any sign of a flame or flame shape pattern on the ceramic surface - shut the unit off! Now, I recall that this can happen for a very short time after start-up. Once again, refer to the manual.

NOTE: 4000 - 9000 btu is not going to heat much more than a small room during a major winter storm. If you have a propane gas grill, I would recommend using that style tank with a much longer hose to keep the larger tank further from the heater and protected so it does not tip over, i.e. under a chair or in a corner, etc... Never use a 'split style fitting to run separate heating units off a single tank!

Stay safe!

 

[saracuse]

That makes me feel so much better! I kid you not, I've lost sleep over this in the last two weeks. I believe the actual unit we have has 4,000 9,000 and 18,000BTU for low, medium and high. We've only ever needed to use it once when we lost power in the winter for two days. This was before Tiki though.

 

[Kentuckienne]

We have a portable dual-fuel generator and a separate tap from the big propane tank that it connects to. Then we can operate the propane furnace and fridge, etc. it stays outside and plugs into the transfer switch on the main panel. It's been great for all kinds of emergencies.