What do I do if the worst happens?

[Foxqlove]

Not sure this is the right place to put this, but seemed the best option, as some DIY would be required. I may be a bit paranoid, but I’ve been thinking, how do I protect my bird if I lose electricity, water, heat or air conditioning for any reason? How do you protect your bird if there's a fire outside and smoke happens to seep indoors? If anyone has any advice on how to protect our feathered friends, then I would be glad to hear it.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Here in Maine this is always a threat. When we built our home addition this past summer we sprung for a full house back up generator fueled by liquid propane (we dont have natural gas) with a tank large enough for 10 days. It was expensive but we financed it for five years.
The next best solution is a portable generator. Even a small inverter generator that you can plug things into would keep a room warm or cool. You should have a large stash of bottled water on hand.

 

[wrench13]

Foxy I dont have specifics, but like flying, 1st you put the mask on yourself THEN pt it on your kids. I imagine or I hope I would do the same for a particular emergency. 1st you assure you can eat, drink, sleep, breathe etc. Likely your birds can share the resources you find.

 

[nkrbkr]

As far as fire goes, where I live is downwind of a mountain range. Every summer, there are wildfires. Every summer, we inevitably have at least some days (sometimes the whole summer) where it is very smoky outside. I have asthma, and I have two birds. We all stay healthy by keeping the windows closed, and I turn up the air purifiers a notch or two. Regardless of smoke, air purifiers are highly recommended if you share your home with a bird. Both for the bird’s health, and your own.

 

[texsize]

We all live on the edge of the worst case scenario.
Just one big CME aimed at Earth could take out the entire power grid.

Living near a large earthquake fault I’ve tried to prepare for disaster. Water, food, power.
But having birds makes things more difficult.
Candles for light nope.
Heating can be a real problem without burning something.
Direct electric to heat is not practical for whole house heating. Not off batteries.
I do have cuddle up bird warmers for most of my birds.
That could help keep them warm without using too much power.

You have to try to prepare for what is most likely where you live. If I lived in the gulf I might need to prepare for hurricane.

Not so worried about heat. It might be uncomfortable but you can always get your bird wet to help it cool down.

 

[nkrbkr]

Not so worried about heat. It might be uncomfortable but you can always get your bird wet to help it

This is exactly what I do when I have to keep the windows closed due to smoke in the summer. We don’t have AC, and it can get quite uncomfortable in the house. I usually give the birds lots of opportunities to bathe in cool water, and have a fan running in their general direction. Obviously, a fan doesn’t work if there’s no power, but water alone helps.

 

[LaManuka]

Not sure this is the right place to put this, but seemed the best option, as some DIY would be required. I may be a bit paranoid, but I’ve been thinking, how do I protect my bird if I lose electricity, water, heat or air conditioning for any reason? How do you protect your bird if there's a fire outside and smoke happens to seep indoors? If anyone has any advice on how to protect our feathered friends, then I would be glad to hear it.

Lots of more modern homes have pretty good insulation around their windows to prevent seasonal heat transfer, and that's generally pretty good at keeping fumes or smoke out when the windows are closed. If you have an older home (like mine!) and the window insulation isn't so good, perhaps it's a good time to look at getting that done if you're able to. Damp towels placed along the bottoms of doors are good for keeping fumes/smoke out as well.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I lived in the LA area for 30 years and lost my home to a wildfire my third year there. The risk of wildfires burning large residential areas never even registered with me before that. I recall the horrible smoke that hung over the whole region and the smell lingered long after the flames were out.

So Cal residents have to endure this almost every year to some degree. Apparently California is no longer in a drought and that's great, but with a lot of rain comes a lot of rapid vegetation growth and if months go by without any rain, which is typical in So Cal, all that vegetation dries out and when a spark hits it, the whole thing goes up in flames, fueling an even bigger wildfire!

Here in Maine we have more water than we could ever need, use or even waste. Wasting water here is not something I ever worry about. We live on a lake and have an deep well with excellent water quality into a vein of groundwater that bubbles up all over the property every spring. When I turn on the tap the water "appears", I use whatever I need and the "wastewater" goes into an "on-site sewage treatment system" aka a septic tank. The wastewater is cleaned by the natural biological process and the "clean" water seeps back into the ground where it came from, so I don't consider the water that flushes down the drains "wasted". It's a biological loop. This, of course, isn't the way it is in drought prone areas where water is a precious expensive commodity.

 

[nkrbkr]

I lived in the LA area for 30 years and lost my home to a wildfire my third year there. The risk of wildfires burning large residential areas never even registered with me before that. I recall the horrible smoke that hung over the whole region and the smell lingered long after the flames were out.

So Cal residents have to endure this almost every year to some degree. Apparently California is no longer in a drought and that's great, but with a lot of rain comes a lot of rapid vegetation growth and if months go by without any rain, which is typical in So Cal, all that vegetation dries out and when a spark hits it, the whole thing goes up in flames, fueling an even bigger wildfire!

Here in Maine we have more water than we could ever need, use or even waste. Wasting water here is not something I ever worry about. We live on a lake and have a deep well with excellent water quality into a vein of groundwater that bubbles up all over the property every spring. When I turn on the tap the water "appears", I use whatever I need and the "wastewater" goes into an "on-site sewage treatment system" aka a septic tank. The wastewater is cleaned by the natural biological process and the "clean" water seeps back into the ground where it came from, so I don't consider the water that flushes down the drains "wasted". It's a biological loop. This, of course, isn't the way it is in drought prone areas where water is a precious expensive commodity.

Gosh, so sorry to hear you lost a house to a wildfire. We live about an hour’s drive from the mountains, so luckily, we don’t have to worry about that. That said, the smoke can be absolutely awful, and unfortunately, it’s a yearly thing. The severity just depends on the year. I do have close family and many friends that live in the mountains, and I worry about the wildfire risk every year.