I know that many birds require different temperatures and environments so that they don't get sick. I know that there are Quaker Flocks living happily in the wild in Brooklyn (New York) and Hyde Park (Illinois) which aren't very warm!!

I'm worried about my Quaker at night. Winter is approaching! A friend said that Quakers like to have nights go down to 60'F, but is that true?! That seems a little cold ... I try to keep the room warm during the day, but I'm worried he'll get too cold! Is there a way for me to know if birdy is cold? He broke his leg not too long ago and didn't make a peep - I don't think he'll be the type to complain!

Please state where your information comes from! (i.e. personal experience, personal beliefs, of if you found the information somewhere please cite it)!

Thanks!

We now have spring but this past winter it was freezing so normal i have a space heater on low just to take the chill out. Its a delonghi heater cos its one of the only one thats hasn't got teflon and is safe for bird. And i put a bowl of water near it to moisten the air .

The wild birds are use to it. I have had my quaker for almost 10 yrs and I usually keep the heat at 65 at night while we are sleeping. The birds have happy huts (fleece) and also cover them. During the day the temp is usually 69 or 70. The rule of thumb is if you are ok, they are ok, unless of course you are wearing a sweater all of the time.

General rule of thumb, if you are comfortable then the birds will be too.

As long as there aren't cold drafts directly on the bird they can usually stand lower temps some down into the 40's with out too much worry. So if you are one that turns the heat down to 60 at night as long as the house cools off slowly then you won't need to worry about an extra heat source for your bird. Its sudden change that causes the problem.

From personal experience I know that these little quakers are tough little critters. I have an outdoor aviary and the birds can choose to be inside or outside. Last winter in the coldest part of our winter which it got down to about -15 for a few days, they did just fine and continued to go outside. I did however have a heat lamp available to them inside their building so it kept the temp at about 40 at night.

As I said, general rule of thumb, if you're comfortable then they will be too. If you notice that your bird is sitting still a lot and fluffed up but normal in every other way, then its possible that he might be on the chilly side, in which case you can try covering his cage partially and giving him a corner that is protected that he can snuggle in.

I live in an old house where there are cold spots...I don't have central air. Since I have one bird that's fairly naked I use him as a thermometer If I notice that he has what feathers he has left fluffed up then I know I need to turn the heat up a bit, But I've only had to take extreme measures once with him and that was only because the power went out...