REMEMBER!!!! A frozen/cold bird....

[thndrdancr]

Just a reminder that a bird that "appears" to be dead due to cold or frozen might not always be completey dead, dont give up on them til you know for sure and bring them in the house all wrapped up, they seem to have enuff reptilian blood in them they can and do many times "come back to life" once totally warmed.

I had a baby newly hatched chick out for two days and one night and came back to life once warmed, and it appeared totally lifeless, no heartbeat, no twitching, no breathing, nothing.

Have also heard numerous stories of birds that once are warmed are ok. That slowdown of their lifesigns is somethin that really fools us many times.

 

[Plain Old Dee]

A lot of local ER's have the saying "It's not truely dead until its warm and dead," and they are talking about people. In my book, the same would apply for animals, don't you think?

 

[ruth]

I have revived many "dead" chicks, of all ages, using a blow dryer. When I find a bird that looks dead but isn't stiff, I bring it in and use a blow dryer, on low setting to revive it. It usually takes about a half an hour before the chicks is chiping again but about half way into being revived you'll see legs move or a twitch here or there and know it is indeed alive. I've used this method successfully more times than I can count - twice when heat lamps went out in the brooder and I awoke to an entire bin of "dead" wet chicks (why they all got in their water I have no idea). The first time DH had discovered them first and had already put them all in the trash when he came in to tell me. I ran out, felt them, almost all were lifeless but not stiff. I used the blowdryer and revived every one. By all appearances they are dead when hypothermic - there's no visible movement, they may look stiff, legs up in the air, or they may be sprawled out or even flattened but I've learned that if cold and/or wet was involved, they are usually just hypothermic and can be revived and go on to live a normal life.

Note: Once you revive them, as soon as they can cheep/peep - get some water in them. I usually force feed, using my fingernail to get a little lukewarm water in their beak and get them to swallow. Somehow it seems to snap them right back to normal.

 

[lilcrow]

Very interesting.............I had a Mille Fleur hen that I had just brought home and it was rather chilly at night. In the morning when I went to open up her cage she appeared dead. I picked her up and could tell she wasn't "all dead," so I brought her in the house and warmed her up. As you said, she revived and after that with a little extra care at night she has made a complete adjustment and is doing fine now. As a matter of fact, it has gone down into the low 20's and she has tolerated it just fine. Of course she is in a small, insulated coop with 5 other Mille Fleurs. I wouldn't expect her to do that all by herself. She is a little spoiled, she wants me to hold her while she eats in the morning (she's the low hen on the totem pole) that way she can eat in peace. So I hold her and then carry her over to the water, and put her down so the mean, alpha hen and her buddy take off and give her a chance to get a drink.

Yeah I know, I'm I dope, but I have a good time.

 

[Shiningfeather]

Quote:
I had the brooder light go out once and lost several to drowning, the rest were all soaked to the bone......nice to hear its not just mine that have taken midnight swims.

 

[elmo]

darn.

My daughter spotted the inert body of a white wing dove on the top of our swimming pool cover this afternoon. I went and retrieved the body, put it in a plastic bag, and put it in the trash. Now I'm wondering if I should have tried to warm it up.....

 

[elmo]

Ever see the movie "The Natural History of Chickens?"

A woman in Maine (I think it was) gave her frozen chicken mouth to beak resuscitation and brought her back.

 

[thndrdancr]

Elmo
You could still probably try, they dont use much oxygen at all in that state for sure.

 

[Godsgrl]

I wish I had known this years back when we discovered our large inground pool full of frozen frogs. I wonder if they would had survived if we had warmed them up. Of course the logistics of doing this with hundreds of frogs is a bit daunting. Thanks for the reminder though.

 

[kennedyscochins]

Quote:
I work as a RN in ICU- we have that saying too!