Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 1:03 am Post subject: Extreme temperature too much for Kakariki
Today, we have unfortunately discovered that extreme heat is too much for Kakariki to withstand. Despite all our efforts to save our birds we have suffered some very heavy losses.
The temperature in Adelaide reached a reported 43 degrees celcius but our readings showed the air temperature today to be around 48 degrees.
We are faced with water restrictions here but ran sprinklers for the majority of the day. This was the hottest day on record since 1939.
As a result we have sadly lost 8 birds. Included in the list was our Blue mutation which was recently paired with a hen. The heat doesn't seem to discriminate which birds are affected as we lost 4 cock birds and 4 hens.
There are 2 more birds that are also showing signs of stress and these have been moved indoors in the hope that they will recover.
I guess this tragedy highlights the fact that there is a limit to the heat that these birds can tolerate. I just wish the weather forecasters had been a bit more accurate. Had we known the temp was going to be that high I would have purchased cages and bought all the birds inside. We live and learn.
I can only think of one word...GUTTED.
We had and monitored an official weather station in our yard for around 5 yrs.
Measuring
Air temp min max
Humidity
Ground surface temp, 5 mm and 10 mm
And a few others
'Official' weather stations are of a international std specs.
The height off the ground, the distance of objects around and the angle from the station to the top or bottom of surrounding objects.
Thats a little background to get the idea.
From this we where able to also measure and chart/compare normal lay persons air temp in the house on the deck in the sun etc
The weather station temps in warmer seasons tended to be 5 to 15 deg
lower than the 'real' temps...the hotter the day the greater the difference depending on wind run (amount of air movement, speed)
This is based on a summer range of 18 to 32 deg in Auckland.
Expolate this out into say Adelaide and Greg saying "reported 43 degrees..." real temp " ...48 degrees." could be be incorrect, I would not be surprised if temps in flights get up to 50 Plus around 2pm to 4pm
If the flights catch the low sun in the late afternoon, we found temps could get well above the plus 5 to 15 deg.
We have had regular "real" high 30s low 40s in flights over the last 2 months and not lost any birds. (highest temps on record)
I have been tossing the Idea of using elcheapo house fans in aviaries next yr if the weather trends over the last couple yrs are any indication, depending on what happens in our hottest month (week) 2nd to 4rd week of Feb. (coldest 3rd week July to 1st week Aug) inclusive.
We applied this knowledge to the design and placement of our aviaries as much as possible.
I hope the following is of some help: (sth hemisphere)
!/ Prevailing Winds.....Winter southerlies Summer Northerlies
Aviaries face close to nth, this protects from cold in winter and air movement in summer, We are able to open rear doors to allow better air flow thru.
2/We have large trees, scrubs around the aviaries, protecting partially roof/walls from direct sun
3/ Roof covers a little over 3/4 allowing 'spill' of hot air up and out of the flights. The amount of cover and direction also gives greater shade area.
4/We are able to to time fresh water to small garden sprinklers and water troughs briefly several times a day. (Water lines are under ground for cooler water temps) The sprinklers are not for the birds but to keep the floor damp. The evaporation of floors and walls has a cooling effect.
5/The Kakariki tend to go to damp ground in the heat and dig around in the damp sand...Kings /crimsons stay high). White pumice sand reflects rather than absorbs heat, and doesn't act as a 'storage heater'
6/ Water toughs are deep enough for Kakariki to just be able to touch the bottom. 100mm deep and hold nearly 20 liters. The Kakariki, bathing, create a damp/wet area just over 1 meter around the troughs.
7/ We supply large leafed branches from the gardens in each flight. These tend to provide an extra shelter and seem to drop temps a little.
Kakariki, espec reds, spend most of their time on the ground, digging, scratching, and are a Forrest bird
To the left of this page are 2 weather blocks, these are updated every 2 hrs.
Members are able to 'set' for their locality. They are surprisingly accurate for 'official temps' even 10 days out.
EG
Greg, today u have
Isolated T-Storms
Sunrise: 5:35 AM
Wind: NW 27 km/h
Humidity: 39%
Precip: 30%
Damp weather Jan 1 and 2nd clearing 3rd, mid 20s thru to the 9th
Breeze dropping to low to mid 20km on the 4th
thru to the 9th.
We use these web sitefacilities on a regular basis to set sprinklers in hot periods. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 7:03 pm Post subject: Too hot for Kakariki
I also live in Adelaide and like Greg lost a lot of my birds: 14 babies in 5 different nests and 3 adults in other cages. This reprersents about one third of my kakariki's. All this despite having double roofed aviaries and water sprays. The only surviving baby had just hatched and most probably this was the only one the parents could get sufficient moisture into. Also lost were some lovebird and finch babies. This is very disheartening and makes one really consider if it is worthwhile keeping birds at all.
This is very disheartening and makes one really consider if it is worthwhile keeping birds at all
Look at it this way, think about NZ kakariki breeders who breed then kill them yr after yr noe THAT IS disheartening, and yes it is still worthwhile.
That is if one is into them for more love than money.
I have an orginal 69 Camaro, late Nov it was run into a curb, $4000 worth damage, damage full length 1 side, and I had just finished a rebuild a few months earlier, mags not replacable. 300 miles and less than a month later stolen (recovered by police within hrs). New mags and tyres are again stuffed. Also I have spent last few days trying to source irreplacable parts for the 4 cnrs of the world. Big hasstles, throw the towel in? No way!
This lot estimate around 5 to $7,000.
Things go wrong, in life, sometimes badly. It just sorts the 'men' out from the boys.
Those who where never meant to breed, no longer do, and in my books thats the way it should be. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
I am shocked about what happened in adelaide. Losing birds is a disaster and most of the time it seems to be the most rare birds. I am sorry to here the blue mutation is gone.
One tip: I can take the top of my nestboxes away and open a site panel of the box. The parents have no problem about this and you can keep the temperature reasonable in the box. I never lost a chick with temperature up to 38C
Yet another scorching day here again. The forecast maximum was 38 degrees but we recorded temperatures well into the 40's in our backyard.
The biggest problem with the heat is the total lack of air movement. This tends to heat everything up much quicker and the birds struggle to breath.
The 2 birds we rescued yesterday have responded to the treatment we have applied and are on the road to recovery. We did not lose any birds today.
Our aviaries house mainly Kakariki but as chance would have it we currently have 2 pairs of Scarlet chested parrots in seperate aviaries. These 2 pairs are both mutations and have a history of being very weak in extreme climate conditions. They dont like the cold or the heat. But, surprisingly they have come through this ordeal unscathed whilst we lost Kakariki in adjoining aviaries. I believe we may have found the answer to why we lost so many Kakariki.
Our sprinklers are designed to cool the open front section of the aviaries. This is also where the water bowls are located. I observed the birds this morning and when the sprinklers are turned on they immediately fly to the rear of the aviary away from the spray of water. That is the hottest part of the aviary and the birds seem to dislike the sprinklers.
To rectify this problem we have reversed the sprinklers and now have them spraying on to the tin roof of the shelter. This cools down the tin and allows the birds the freedom of using the entire aviary. I have also made arrangements to replace the iron with insulated coolroom panels and also replace the sprinkler heads with fogging nozzles. This will produce a fine mist over the area which should be more acceptable to the birds.
One of our early aviaries had a tin roof..we didnt loose any birds, but the heat was of concern, my wife was more worried about then touching and burning themselves on it.
All our aviaries now have 17mm construction ply on the roof.
Our sprinklers are low, to wet part of the walls and floor. If the birds want to get under a sprinkler they have to go low or to the ground to do so.
A quick fix for those with tin aviaries, cover with cheap sunshade cloth. or some thin cheap ply wood over the tin. Its a quick fix that will last for several yrs.
We had a cat problem a while back, so used some underfloor reflective building paper on the roof as a earth and an electric fence mounted above it. This could also be another sol'n for a quick fix for heat. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
I have a 2m X 2m X 2m hexagonal gazebo over my aviaries & cages, it's still boiling when it's really hot but I reckon it'd cut a few degrees off the cage temperatures.
oh geez greg and everyone else how truely awful.... here in melb we have also had this discustingly hot weather......obveously my birds are inside but yesterday (over 43 degrees) it made no difference where you were it was just as hot and never cooled down......I have been very worried about toby and yesterday he spent a fair bit of time on the bottem of the cage....but i kept misting him and I gave them lots of cold fruit (orange strawberry ect)......a cool change came across midday today and they have all perked up......I remember when we lived in canberra we lost birds to the weather and it was awful I am sorry again esp for the blue greg
Sorry to hear about your losses. One year ago I've lost 4 birds to parrot disease. I've never realised how these individuals could have such an impact on my family. Especially the kids have suffered a lot about this loss. My Kakariki's live outside in the aviary and in the garden house but they all have a name. When my 2 teenager kids talk about Kiwi, Cuty, Matcho, Aurora or Lara and Misty they talk about their mates, their family.
I hate it to loose a bird.
Judging by the cricket in Sydney, the weather is quite wierd in Australia. One day 40 degrees plus, next day play delayed for rain, next day hot, today overcast.
We have had some uncomfortable weather here, 30 plus with high humidity, but not too bad as long as you stay out the sun. Last year in Feb we had a couple of near 40's. I have been building a tree house for the kids but find by 1030am, it is too hot to continue until late afternoon again.
Greg, you are right, kakariki like to bath and unlike birds like cockatiels and ringnecks, the don't like a shower. The afternoon sun is the most lethal. I have moved all my kakariki into aviaries that don't get the afternoon sun. Fortunately we have other species (from Australia for instance) that are more comforable in hot weather so they are located in the sunnier aviaries.
All my suspended kakariki aviairies are under a roof and there is about a 30 cm gap between the top of the cage and the roof. The aviaries are enclosed back and sides allowing protection from winter winds and storms. There is a service passage between the aviaries and the back wall. The roof and the wall don't quite meet and there is a climber growing up the wall through the gap. At the front part (open side) of the aviaries, there are flowering perenials growing underneath and bamboo and some willow strictas in front of the aviaries. I am positive that more vegatation around aviaries helps regulate temperatures. All my conventional kakariki aviaries for kakariki are situated either under trees or against the side of the house that blocks the afternoon sun from about 2pm.
The biggest problem I have with growing plants close to my aviairies is that some of my aviaries are made with 25mm by 25mm welded mesh and the kakariki stick there heads through the wire trying to reach the plants. To anyone building a new aviary, rather use 25mm by 12.5mm (1 by half inch) welded mesh.
We are haveing some very wierd weather down here allen..........after boiling last week....this week has been mild if not cold sometimes LOL....its insane.....I am hoping it sorts itself out soon
We also have Veggietation around/next to aviaries, front and back.
Quote:
The biggest problem we have with growing plants close to my aviairies is that some of my aviaries are made with 25mm by 25mm welded mesh and the kakariki stick there heads through the wire trying to reach the plants. To anyone building a new aviary, rather use 25mm by 12.5mm (1 by half inch) welded mesh
.
I dont see this as a problem...we use this. Rosmary boxed hedges are trimed by the birds for us, same goes for mint and other compatable plants, scrubs and trees that grow to close to the mesh. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
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