Just a word of advice to anyone who finds a "dead" newborn chick in a nest. They arent always as "dead" as they seem. Many a time I have found a apparenty lifeless and dead newborn chick in a nest....born sometime through the night and unseen and forgotten, or the egg was further away from the hen and the chick has arrived on the outer edge of nest and concave.

It has happened to me a number of times. The chick appears DEAD...no sign of life...still has body colour...but no breathing or movement.

If you ever find a chick like this...try this....cup the chick in your hands and breathe warm air from your breath onto the chick for at least 15 minutes. It brings a stonecold lifeless chicks body temperature up....Most often in these cases, the chick will eventually shudder and breathe and start to squirm about. I brought one back to life earlier this week, and have done this a number of times in the same situation.

Like I said...if the chick is still pink, but seems dead, try it anyway...I have and have had success.

Edited June 16, 200717 yr by **KAZ**

wow. Thanks for that tip Kaz.

Edited June 16, 200717 yr by Marlony

A little add-on to the information above. I have just saved yet another stone cold chick from death using this same method.

 

Here also is some advice from Gerald Binks which backs up the method I use ..

If the hen was sitting on chicks and they appear dead, don't give up hope. Often they too are in 'limbo' hovering between life and death. Transfer them to an incubator, if possible, for speed, or, if you do not possess one, transfer them after warming them slowly in front of a fire. I've often sat and watched T.V. for an hour with 'dead' chicks in my hands and the end result is often more satisfying than the programme I've been watching!

Edited June 16, 200717 yr by **KAZ**

very interesting, thanks kaz!

Great post Kaz. One thing to bring up though is if the chick is flat it doesn't work.

Great post Kaz. One thing to bring up though is if the chick is flat it doesn't work.

 

:hap:

 

YEP,yep,yep...........

 

It only works with pink ones that are NOT flat

 

 

PS *** The two "dead" chicks this week are doing well in a foster nest with experienced parents CANDY and LUIGI

Edited June 16, 200717 yr by **KAZ**

This happened to me awhile back, I picked up what I thought was a dead cold chick only to see its little beak moving. I tried warming it up by breathing on it, but unfortunately it died in my hands. Maybe I should have kept trying, if I had known this now, I would have but I was pretty sure it was dead though, it was very still and did not change position at all, and mummy hadn't been feeding it so it was probably a lot weaker than it should have been.

I also tried warming it up by feeding it warm food.

 

This also sorta works with eggs, I have two little budgies that hatched from two eggs that were abandoned and went stone cold, that is Kito and Alopex.

Edited June 16, 200717 yr by Sailorwolf

great advice Kaz

Wow that's definitely good to know. Thanks Kaz I'll remember this one!

My husband Ken is still grinning from ear to ear as he has experienced this first hand this week. I had another chick born that had moved away from the other chicks and was stone cold dead at the edge of the nesting box. No movement whatsoever. I breathed warm air onto it for about 20 minutes and then handed it to my husband to continue while I made up some handrearing formula. The baby budgie took its first gasp of life in Kens hands and my husband was absolutely thrilled that it had come to life by some of his efforts.

That chick is fine now. It pays to persevere sometimes

Incredible Kaz...great job Ken

This is a very interesting post Karen.I also have done this,have stuffed a quail chick in my bra while taking the kids to school and half way there start hearing a chirp!!

This works with all types of birds, including chickens, of course the bird has to only “be dead” from lack of warmth, if something is really wrong with it [sick] the warmth alone wont bring it back. Also it's only a short window of possibility, if the period of chill is too long, nothing will bring it back, but it's sure worth a try in most cases.

It's like they say in hospital and clinics "It's not dead, until it's warm and dead"

It's like they say in hospital and clinics "It's not dead, until it's warm and dead"

:offtopic: not quite sure what that means

 

....but anyway....

Another baby hatched today to a novice mother. She pushed it to the corner of the nestbox where I found it...tiny and frozen and again...not moving. Got the same treatment ( warmth and a feed from me ) and was given to the same foster mother that has another chick from earlier in the week. Tonight it has been fed by its new adopted parents ...Swift and Radar. Maybe it has something to do with the colder weather lately

It means, that the animal can't be proven to be dead, unless it is warm and is still dead. Because when things are cold, they shut down, but may not necessarily be dead.

It means, that the animal can't be proven to be dead, unless it is warm and is still dead. Because when things are cold, they shut down, but may not necessarily be dead.

 

AHA !! Gotcha

It's been a long day :offtopic:

heheh (Laughing out loud)

Just a word of advice to anyone who finds a "dead" newborn chick in a nest. They arent always as "dead" as they seem. Many a time I have found a apparenty lifeless and dead newborn chick in a nest....born sometime through the night and unseen and forgotten, or the egg was further away from the hen and the chick has arrived on the outer edge of nest and concave.

It has happened to me a number of times. The chick appears DEAD...no sign of life...still has body colour...but no breathing or movement.

If you ever find a chick like this...try this....cup the chick in your hands and breathe warm air from your breath onto the chick for at least 15 minutes. It brings a stonecold lifeless chicks body temperature up....Most often in these cases, the chick will eventually shudder and breathe and start to squirm about. I brought one back to life earlier this week, and have done this a number of times in the same situation.

Like I said...if the chick is still pink, but seems dead, try it anyway...I have and have had success.

 

okay I NOW SOO WISH I READ THIS !!!!!!

I HAD 2 THAT WERE STILL PINK BUT COMPLETELY LIFELESS!

It's interesting, very good to know

That's a great post Kas, :ausb:

My first year of breeding I found a cold one and was about to dispose of it when Greg told me to cup it in my hands and blow warm air on it. WOW it worked.

I have save a quite a few like that since, mainly last breeding season,

Have saved 2 this year. I was angry with one hen because I found one ice cold and I held it and breathed warm air for ages, then yep it starting wiggling, never ceases to amaze me but I put it back in the nest and everything was good till the next day, it was going fine in the morning but by late afternoon it was dead, it had a full crop so not sure what happened, it wasn't flattened but the head was white and the body was still pink weird, mayby it something wrong withit. :dbb1:

Edited August 16, 200717 yr by splat

Came home last night to find one of my hens had abandoned her five fertile eggs and they were cold. I washed the eggs in warm water to heat them up a bit and put them under another hen to see if they will hatch - maybe I will be lucky.

Generally I don't move eggs unless I have to.

I found previously that if this happens and I foster the eggs cold, the new hen rejects them, but if I run them under warm water to heat them up a bit first, they have a better chance of being accepted and I have had some success doing this hatching a few that went cold. Amazing little critters to survive that aren't they!?!

Came home last night to find one of my hens had abandoned her five fertile eggs and they were cold. I washed the eggs in warm water to heat them up a bit and put them under another hen to see if they will hatch - maybe I will be lucky.

Generally I don't move eggs unless I have to.

I found previously that if this happens and I foster the eggs cold, the new hen rejects them, but if I run them under warm water to heat them up a bit first, they have a better chance of being accepted and I have had some success doing this hatching a few that went cold. Amazing little critters to survive that aren't they!?!

Full of surprises thats for sure. I had a stone cold unfed chick this morning that I warmed and fed and put in a foster nest. I guess they are made of tough beginnings having been a few generations from the wild...these little guys. Amazing.

 

This is really great information Kaz.....thank you all for sharing your experiences.

If this ever happens to me I will be trying this.....

It means, that the animal can't be proven to be dead, unless it is warm and is still dead. Because when things are cold, they shut down, but may not necessarily be dead.

 

yes they go into shock and coma before dieing as do we humans

i think im experiencing this as i write this wish i had some warm hands to keep me alive about now :rofl: :rofl: my com room is like ice age at moment

i use this method all time if i find a dead looking chick, if not flat / white ,mmmm,sounds like a coffee lol sorry bad humor its very early and i can not sleep have been unwell with pain in back i get a bit weird and bad jokes to keep mind off pain rather than painkillers heeee