Weather

[Shannylee]

Well, the hurricane/tropical season is in full swing in Central Florida. My porch birds are thanking their lucky stars that they live in the screened, under roof porch. My aviary birds are soaked. There is a roof on the aviary. Part of the sides of the aviary are protected by lattice and grape vines and lots of tree cover. Still...it rains sideways in Florida. The temps stay in the high 70F - low 80F overnight and in the mid 90'sF during the day. And....we have a tropical storm scheduled to hit Thursday/Friday.

My question is: with all of the warm wet, is there anything preventative that I should be doing for my aviary birds so that they don't get sick? I have all of their branches and nest boxes secured. I plan on adding a roosting ledge (at the roof level) before Thursday that will be open on each end but closed otherwise. My aviary is a walk-in and there is no way I can treat each bird individually.

Thanks

[Shannylee]

Maybe I should have put this under "health". ??

[Babs _Owner]

Shannylee

I wish I knew, as it has been hot and dry here. But it sounds like it's a hot mess over there!! Hoping all the birds make it through the rain intact.
You have some plastic you can zip tie or staple-gun to one/two side of the aviary to cut off the wind and the rain pellets from bombarding them?

[cindy]

Can you use tarps mounted on rods and using metal shower clips to pull them across the back and sides front and secure down and closed to keep the rain out? I used this method in Ft Myers....it also helps to keep the cold winds and chill out in the winter.

In the damp, humidity and heat your concerns would be cocci, internal parasites(not mites), protozoa and mold.

You can use Baycox to prevent cocci and then ronex or ronivet S 12% for parasites/protozoa....or you can combine tri sulfa and ronex 12% or ronivet 12% together to one part water, treat for 10 to 14 days to cover cocci, parasites, protozoa, bacteria.

Not looking forward to all the rain we will get.... we have had plenty already.

[Shannylee]

In case of high winds, I have plywood that I can board the aviary up with. The house is insured. LOL! I do have tarps that I can wrap around the aviary too.

Cindy, I have new chicks and 8 more due to hatch this week. Can I use those meds in the water with hatchlings in the aviary? Do I have to stop soft food to treat? Ft. Myers. You guys get it on a regular basis. I LOVE Ft. Myers!! Pretty sure I had the best Hurricane on the Beach (drink) there ;) LOL! Hopefully, this storm will miss us both!

[Stuart whiting]

In case of high winds, I have plywood that I can board the aviary up with. The house is insured. LOL! I do have tarps that I can wrap around the aviary too.

Cindy, I have new chicks and 8 more due to hatch this week. Can I use those meds in the water with hatchlings in the aviary? Do I have to stop soft food to treat? Ft. Myers. You guys get it on a regular basis. I LOVE Ft. Myers!! Pretty sure I had the best Hurricane on the Beach (drink) there ;) LOL! Hopefully, this storm will miss us both!

Hi Sharon,

I did initially mention about this when the flight was first built and was actually gonna say use at least 2 sheets of ply board from floor to roof to create a corner, one on the side and other on the back, if you've got more sheets then all the better,

I personally prefer avaires where only the front is exposed so that the birds have total protection,

I used to be a custom avairy and shed builder so know what I'm talking about here as here in England we can also get really bad weather and build to suit the conditions

Incidentally if you've got rather strong winds coming I wouldn't bother using tarpaulin sheets as this will be next to useless because it'll probably be ripped to pieces aswell as frightening the birds with it flapping about etc

Try to take the best measures that you can and yer birds should be ok

[cindy]

looks like you will need the plywood, the we here in the Tampa/St Pete area are expecting 50 to 60 mile an hour winds... will be under a Tropical storm watch today and it is due to hit I believe late Wednesday and Thursday.... watching the Atlantic....we usually see the most activity and storms hurricanes this time of the year.

The heat index has been bad all summer 110 to 114, here feels like an oven some days... and the air is just humid...the last few days we are starting to cool off a bit with slight winds as the storm approaches.

The tornadoes from these storms are what we fear the most. We have had a few jump over the house, and cause a bit of an issue.

For normal rain the tarps help, we used weights at the bottom and secured the overlap together...... we have more storms, they seem worse up here than down in Ft Myers when we lived there

[Shannylee]

We'll be putting up the plywood tomorrow. I have lots of wood so should be able to cover the whole aviary if necessary. Or....I can go get another cage and spend the day netting birds. I'll make that decision in the morning once we have a clearer picture of how bad the winds will be. Meantime, we built them a roosting ledge that is protected from the wind and rain in case it rains again tonight.

[Stuart whiting]

Shannylee

Hi Sharon,

If you've got plenty of wood I'd be inclined to work out what side of the avairy gets the least wind and then have this as the front of yer avairy preferably one of the longer sides if this makes sence

The other three sides I'd now board from floor to the roof at both ends and the back of the flight, by doing this the birds are now much better protected from the elements,

I'm presuming that you've got plastic or metal sheeting already on the roof, if it's plastic this will obviously throw light in through the top of the avairy aswell as the front,
If it's metal sheets on the roof the inside of the avairy may now be a tadge darker but should still be ok

[cindy]

In case of high winds, I have plywood that I can board the aviary up with. The house is insured. LOL! I do have tarps that I can wrap around the aviary too.

Cindy, I have new chicks and 8 more due to hatch this week. Can I use those meds in the water with hatchlings in the aviary? Do I have to stop soft food to treat? Ft. Myers. You guys get it on a regular basis. I LOVE Ft. Myers!! Pretty sure I had the best Hurricane on the Beach (drink) there ;) LOL! Hopefully, this storm will miss us both!

I sent you some avian vet names/links also in your area.

see what the vet says, let him know they have chicks and more on the way, they are exposed to the ground and it have been damp.

[cindy]

The storm is due to come in over the Tampa area.... we will be on the rainy side of the storm.

Do you have screening on the aviary to keep mosquitoes out? They can get West Nile Virus and it can take them down also.

[Sally]

Be safe, all of you in the path of this hurricane/tropical storm, whatever it winds up to be.

[Shannylee]

cindy, thank you so much! I have an 11:30am appt with the avian vet tomorrow. I'll keep the heat lamp on him for the night and in a room with no draft or a/c. He's actually hopping around a bit now that he's warmed up a tad.

I don't have screening. I have 1/4" hardware wire. I can install screen very easily though so that's on the list. The priority tomorrow will be to board up the aviary.

We will get the NE quadrant of the storm, which is normally the strongest winds. It should only hit as a tropical storm but we will probably be facing 50-60mph sustained winds with gusts up to 20mph higher than that. Definitely boarding up!

Stuart, I think it will be way too hot in the aviary if I enclose it permanently on 3 sides. During the summer, our heat index hits around the 115 degree range. I'll see about getting some hard plastic panels (like hurricane panels) that will be easy up/easy down. That way, they will have protection for the winter but I can take it down for the summer and only put it back up when a storm comes through. We normally have several days notice for any tropical disturbances.

I really appreciate the quick response from you guys. Thanks so much!

[Stuart whiting]

Shannylee

Yea no problem Sharon, that seems a good idea and makes sence,

Me personally would do what i said but have one removable panel directly in the centre at the back of the flight to allow the air flow in summer

Just a thought

Hope the storm isn't to bad

[cindy]

Keep you posted as it comes over us first..... Stay safe Sharon and keep us posted on your male...hope he will be ok.