Spent the last two hours moving button quail...

[Rozzie]

I had them in the room I'd turned into a bird room / aviary. Problem is that the room is not on the central heat / a.c. I've been heating it with a separate heater and was going to install a room a.c. next spring for summer temp moderation. It's not a large room, but the temp tonight is going to 13 degrees, and it'll get much colder later this winter. Today was about the coldest we've had weatherwise since I moved them out there. The room is not nearly as well insulated as the house & has concrete flooring, covered with carpet. I'd "thought" based on how my garage does in winter that this area would stay warm enough. Today I was fighting to keep it above 60 out there. The heater was running nonstop. Part of the problem is that the door is not insulated and opens to the outdoors. It's an external door, but not a really great one. I was "really" afraid the heater would quit overnight, the breaker would trip, or we'd have a general power failure & I wouldn't know it because I was asleep or not home. It would cool off fairly fast out there.

I gave up & we just moved them & all their stuff to the basement. I will sleep MUCH better tonight knowing they are inside!

I'll have to be extra, EXTRA diligent with bedding changes & cleaning up dust down there. However, I'll save a small fortune on my electric bill (won't need the extra heater PLUS I won't need the extra set of lights on out there). I'll be rearranging the basement in a week or two. I've got a pretty nasty back injury right now and was lucky to get things down there (thanks to the help of my son, who is much stronger & more able bodied than myself).

My basement looks like a zoo right now. I might as well just get a monkey or two and a hippopotamus and charge admission.

 

[Stellar]

At least you got everyone settled in the basement. Hope your back gets better!

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
WHAT NO PLATYPUS?...... THAT SOUNDS KINDA PREDJUDICED TO ME...

 

[Rozzie]

Well now, a platypus & some otters would fit in pretty well around here. I'd have to provide winter quarters inside, at least for the Platypus, I'd imagine. However, I do have that great big unused old concrete pool outside. It'd need a pump and filter, but zoo admissions should make up for that expense!

I'd sort of planned on the pool being summer quarters for the hippo, though. I'm not sure how he'd take to having otters & a platypus in his pool...

 

[JJMR794]

Just Let Them In The Pool At Night While The Hippo Is Out Eating All The Grass In The Yard... Easy

 

[Rozzie]

Nooooooo. He might trample my garden! Hm. The neighbors don't use THEIR backyard, though...mwahahaha!

Seriously, though, I was amazed at how well the button quail did moving them. We pulled waterers out and took them through the cold air (just a few feet) as fast as we could and got them inside again. They hardly blinked. Actually, they seem happier in the basement. It's a few degrees warmer but I don't think that's it. Not sure why, really. Maybe it's different acoustics. Not one bird tried to popcorn as we moved them. Maybe they were too scared, ROFL.

We'll see how they respond tomorrow when the coturnix start crowing away...

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
YEAH THIS'LL BE FUN.... TOMARROW MORNING YOUR BASEMENT WILL SOUND LIKE A STAR WARS MOVIE

 

[Rozzie]

LOL I love the sounds the button quail make. My garage sounded like Star Wars all summer.

It's the 5 coturnix roos down there that are REALLY noisy. They are underneath my bedroom...and moving later this month to the OTHER end of the BASEMENT (edited: yeesh, what the heck did I type bedroom for?) under the living room, instead!

 

[Sushi]

It could be that the basement is not only warmer, but not as drafty.
I hear you on the coturnix. I got a male last spring and ended up giving him away when I couldnt find hens for him, as he kept crowing and crowing and crowing. Then he'd get my Serama going on on the crowing and it was just too much. He was actually louder than the two roosters.

 

[Rozzie]

Actually, the room they were in didn't have any draft at all, so long as the door was closed. It's an addition to my garage. However, it did get a draft (momentarily) whenever you opened the door. I'd rigged thick drapes over the door to minimize that.

You are right about the basement not having that, though.

Ahem. If the basement works well for them -- in other words, if I can keep it from smelling bad -- then I can turn the room they were in outside into a studio.

It's one of the only places I've got in the house tall enough for my big easel, plus I can easily pull the easel out onto the patio from there to paint. I can also set up the sewing machine in there when I have a project going. By moving the easel out, I could also put the loom in there for a project. It may end up working out better...so long as I can keep the basement smelling fresh...