Coturnix and cold weather

[Rainwolf]

I am curious... I have been trying to find information on temp range outside that coturnix can live in with out any extra heat source.

Does anyone know what range of outside temps they can handle? What temp would you start providing heat at?

We are having a very cold snap and my outdoor Coturnix pen is shielded on 3 sides open on half of 1 side and wire floor. the pen is only about a foot off the ground and covered with a large tarp over the top to help keep wind out.

I am not worried about eggs but worried about the health of the birds.

Thank you for your time and info.

 

[JJMR794]

Rain Wolfe The Precautions You Already Have In Place Should Work Anywhere In The Conitental Us. If You Are Concerned Or See The Birds Exhibiting Abnormal Behavior Then Add A Heat Lamp For Them, But It Should Be Unnecessary

 

[Rainwolf]

Thanks JJ...
I had 1 pass this morning but see no obvious reason for the passing so thought maybe it was the cold. I will be dissecting in a couple days to see if maybe it was impacted eggs or something but again at first inspection the bird looks healthy and should not have passed.
(bird is in freezer atm and I'm at work

)

It might just be a case of bonking but since the cage is only 2 feet high I did not think that was likely.

It was one of my beautiful Red Tibetan females so it was a sad loss.

I did throw in a heat lamp in this morning as it is around 30F and 80% humidity here atm and I was unsure if the cold was the problem.

 

[Rozzie]

Quote:
I'm a softy. My garage birds will have heat lamps all winter once it REALLY gets cold outside. The basement birds can count themselves fortunate as can those in the aviary (it's heated).

 

[Rainwolf]

Quote:
I'm a softy. My garage birds will have heat lamps all winter once it REALLY gets cold outside. The basement birds can count themselves fortunate as can those in the aviary (it's heated).

If I had the space in the garage that is where they would be but alas I don't

Wanna come ove and help me build the garage bigger?

 

[Rozzie]

Quote:
Seems it's always a high quality bird when these things happen. Sorry you lost her!

 

[Rainwolf]

Quote:
Seems it's always a high quality bird when these things happen. Sorry you lost her!

Thanks Rozzie
It always seems that way

Lucky for me I do have a few Red Tibetan males so I might be able to get another female for the color.

 

[JJMR794]

Temperature Extremes Will Stress Your Birds And Thereby "weed Out" The Weaker Or Feeble Birds-- Very Old Or Genetic Deficient That Sowmhow Nakes Them More Prone To Early Death... In These Cases You Will See Higher Mortality Rates During Times Of Temerature Extremes, But Its More Like "that Was The Last Straw" Sort Of Scenario Than "freezing To Death" Type Of Thing. Also With Cold Snaps Your Incidence Of Egg Bound Injuries And Deaths Will Be Much More Prevalent As The Sudden Cooler Weather Effects Your Birds Just As It Would You Or Me... Decreased Thirst... Which Leads To Dehydration And That Means Things Dry Up... And If Things Dry Up Well I Imagine Its Pretty Hard To Shove That Big Egg Out The Small Opening... Heat Stress Can Lead To Similar Albeit Dehydration From The Heat, Not Decreased Thirst Sensation

 

[Rainwolf]

Does anyone know what the cold tolerance is for Coturnix?

 

[Rainwolf]

Quote:
Good info. I will keep watching and maybe with the heat lamp the stress will not be as bad for this cold snap.
I did not feel any egg binding but the dissection should tell all in that manner.

We so rarely get sudden freezing cold weather. They are even predicting snow.