11 and 16 degrees forecast, what to do?

[EdH]

I live in the Dallas Fort Worth area and currently have 4 birds. Never had them this early. The weather has not been conducive for the birds but I am more concerned about the future weather that is being forecast. The next 14 days are all forecast to have lows around 30 degrees with two days (Jan 19 and 20) having forecasted lows of 11 and 16 degrees. Will the birds survive that cold without help and is there anything that can be done to help them through it. Last year I put some hand warmers in the cavities to help them but they only last 10 hours at the most. Not sure it helped but it didn't get down to 11 degrees then either. Should I try to help them or let nature take it course? Any suggestions?

[C.C.Martins]

Not too far south of you and its cold. Mixed blessing when they come early.
Suggest you do the hand warmers, good idea, any help is good help. Go to petsmart or a pet shop and get big crickets and superworms, freeze them, thaw and put on porches. Or in cavities. Its a multi day event, day before yesterday was a good day for them but may be too little.
Look for them to go to one cavity and huddle up, put bugs on that porch, in it if you can.
I flipped to them yesterday evening, only some were interested. Next week they will need it bad.

[Dave Duit]

Offer crickets or superworms on their porches. If you are low on funds, consider NO OIL prepared scrambled eggs small pieces; but not intended for long term use with martins since it can can loose stools.

[flyin-lowe]

You say "lows in the 30's most days", what are the high temps forecasted those days? That will be the key. If it is getting to mid 40's or higher during the day they should be able to find food and survive a day or two without being able to feed. As long as they are not starving, I don't think temps in the teens alone will kill them, as long as they have some bedding. You likely won't see them come out at all though. I would buy some of the 10-12 hour hand warmers (longer if they make them?) and put some in just before dark and then again once the sun comes up. You don't want to bother them while it's dark.

If you have never flipped crickets before I would try that, but it typically doesn't work until they have not eaten for a day or two, unless they have been trained in the past. Good luck down there.

[Doug Martin - PA]

When it comes to Martins surviving cold spells the key to keeping them alive is food. They are actually more resilient to temperature than most think.

I have kept Martins alive in temperatures below zero with highs in the teens for long periods of time. But if they don't eat they will certainly die. So somehow make sure they eat.

Certainly using handwarmers to help out during extreme cold nights is helpful, but it is secondary to making sure they eat.

The problem is a single Martin needs fed 2 or 3x a day and about 10-12 crickets at each meal to maintain it's health to overcome long periods of extreme cold. So keeping them active enough to feed is a very difficult task. Can't tell you how many times I have fed them in the snow and extreme cold in my years. Many times needing to knock on the pole or begin to lower the housing to get them out to feed them. Then back in they go.

Their tendency is to hunker down and stay inside. So if it stays cold for a long period they perish inside. When it comes to keeping them alive being proactive in feeding is most important, as an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Luckily my birds here in the north are familiar with this but for those in the south it's quite a chore to teach them and keep them fed.

Good luck and try your best to feed them.

Doug

[Thomas Maddox]

Thanks Doug! What is your process for teaching them to accept crickets?