This morning my husband raced in to tell me that one of the 3 week old chicks was dead and the others looked in a bad way. They were puffed up and looking cold. He’d put them out of the brooder as we do every morning (we’re peak summer here and get to 25 degrees by 9am) but the older chooks were pecking at them and they weren’t running away. We quickly realized the brooder had been left unplugged overnight! It was plugged into the wall but not the brooder and he hadn’t realized. The biggest chick was lying on its back looking very rigor mortis and I was about to agree that it looked dead when… I saw it take (what I call) a death gasp!
Its a horrible thing animals do when they are very near death. Its a big effort, mouth (or beak) open breath that is very apneic (large pauses between breaths). I shouted, “it’s still alive!” I quickly held it close to me while my eldest child heated some wheat bags. The other chicks were hastily returned to the brooder and it was plugged in!
Warming up the baby chick
By now it had stopped breathing altogether. I lay it on the warm wheat bag with a dry cloth over top and kept my hands covering it gently. I was sure it was dead but wanted to try anyway. Time passed slowly and after what felt like ages (less than a minute) little chick started the death gasps again. Within another minute, the breathing became faster and less effortful and with it’s beak closed.
I started to have hope
With these new breaths I started to feel hopeful that the chick had escaped death. I kept changing out the wheat bags, warming them for 1 minute each time. After ten minutes, she started making small peeps but her eyes were still closed.
After another 5 minutes, she started struggling and trying to stand. She was unable to keep her balance and still kept her eyes closed. I swaddled her back into the cloth and lay her down again on a fresh wheat bag. She seemed to like this as she settled and slept a bit more.
Return to the brooder
After another five or ten minutes she was standing a bit more securely. I returned her to the brooder with her siblings and watched her carefully. Slowly she moved a bit and within two minutes she had found the water and food.
Now they are all outside on this super hot day, looking very much alive. She is the biggest one to the left of this pic. I have unfortunately found a few dead and cold chicks this year from a previous batch when we had a power outage, and couldn’t revive them as I did this one.
Best advice
I had tried to revive smaller chicks in the past with warm water, thinking it would be quicker and safer (better temperature control). I worried that the wheat bags would be too hot or warm the chick too rapidly. My best advice would be to not worry too much (if it will die, it will die regardless of your effort) and try anything dry to warm it up. You could also try hot water in a plastic bottle (or hot water bottle) if that’s all you have available. You must watch it continuously for signs of improvement or distress and act quickly to fix it. Keep the heat source warm-hot and make sure there are no drafts (I wouldn’t recommend a hair drier). In future I might knit a little wrap to secure its wings safely and add warmth while its being re-heated.