Tips for helping your pigeons handle the bitter cold

Our pigeons are tough. Thousands of years of natural selection have created a bird that can handle some of the worse weather conditions. But it's not to say that it isn't hard on our pigeons. When you are having a particularly extreme plunge in temperatures, here are some helpful tips from Kastle Pigeon and our Facebook followers on how to deal with the cold temperatures to keep you pigeons warmer, safer, and healthier. 

• I use electric chicken waters for their water in cold temps - Scott Key
• If you got electric use heater mats(for snake and reptiles) to help with water bowls.plenty saw dust in nest box and straw. - John Sylvester
• I bought recessed lights and built a box to put them in, it's hard to find the old light bulbs that get hot so I bought 40 or so a few years ago. Be prepared. - David Petracek
• Yup it's 0F with a wind chill of -23F. My pigeons are spoiled rotten and stay in the house with me. - Veronica Atlantis
• Wooden shed with electric heater. Healthy food, automatic water heater. - Jerome Roberts
• Protect your birds from drafts during freezing weather! Regulate the windows and ventilation the best you can especially when it’s windy. - Tom DeMartino
• I use water heaters and cover windows and vents to protect from wind and drafts. I also feed twice a day with extra corn. - Eric Danella
• At -20, even the water heater mats cannot keep up. It's been a long week! I read online today that many places have run out of corn! - Liz Darkhorseloft Beukema
• Mine are lying down and playing in the snow don't do anything. - Lucia Gallo
• Switched it up now that it is even colder outside - I nailed a power strip to the side wall - heat lamp light instead of the lantern hanging and now running 2 heaters ... Negative 13 temps. - Michael Spiegelburg
• We had -10 to -15 windchill this morning. All doors are closed. Vents on one side closed. Only a crack for the day pen use only a few hours a day while the sun is shining. Waters are heated with electric. A lot of whole grain corn. It's cold in there. Feels like a fan blowing while they're getting excited over me being in there. - Timmy Drane
• Hug them and stick them in my coat when I can as many as I can  - AP Amy

Here at Kastle Loft, we employ many of these same tips for keeping our pigeons warmer and safer from the cold - and to help us humans a little, too! Here are a few of our tips:

• Candle warmers under an upside-down terra-cotta tray to set our plastic waterers on. 
• If you can't heat your water, change it at a minimum twice a day, especially at feeding time. 
• Close up extra ventilation windows to prevent drafts and blowing snow. But make sure you are still getting air circulation!
• Feed extra corn. Corn is high in carbs and is a fast, high-calorie energy source. We feed regular rations first, then put down a lot more corn for the birds to take as much as they want throughout the day.