So, this all happened months ago, and I shared it with all my facebook friends but I realized that I totally forgot to post it on here...duh! Anywho, this is the story of my OEGB-mix rooster, Frankenstein, and how I managed to bring him back from the dead:
I officially now have the coolest farming story EVER. Today, I found one of the tiny bantam roosters on his back in the coop, with his feet twitching. He wasn't breathing, and his comb and wattles were pale. I tried doing chicken CPR, pumping his chest and puffing air in his beak (yuck, I know). His wattles would turn red for a while, but as soon as I stopped they would go pale again. He wasn't breathing on his own and his heart was stopped. I figured he was a goner, and I was thinking about where I was going to bury him, etc...
But, I ran into soft-hearted hubby on my way in the house and he was, of course, all distressed about the situation and I decided to keep trying a little longer on the CPR so I could say I tried everything. By this time, it had been about 5-10 minutes since I found the little guy in the coop.
I took him in the house and kept doing little chest pushes and puffing air into him, but he still wouldn't breathe on his own and he was starting to feel cold. He would still twitch and move every once in a while, but that was about it. I'd get air into him and push his chest and his wattles would pink up with oxygen, then as soon as I stopped they would go pale again. I started thinking, "Man, I wish I had some tiny little chicken defibrillator panels to shock his heart into starting again..."
I started wondering what I could improvise that would do the same thing without, of course, just cooking the poor chicken. Yes, I know I am crazy.
So, our labrador, Werner, has a fancy Dogtra training collar. It has a remote control with a button you push to give him a shock. We use it to train him not to bark and not to chase the cats, chickens, goats, etc...It has a little dial that lets you turn it up all the way to a max of 127. For the lab, we never need to turn it higher than 50 or so.
I figured, what the heck, the chicken is most likely dead anyway.
I laid him on the bathroom counter, held the collar against his side so that the metal probes were on either side of his heart (as close as I could tell anyway). Turned the collar up to about level 90, and pushed the button. The chicken stiffened up and his wing stuck out a bit, kind of like the TV shows where they zap the patient in the ER. First couple times that was all that happened. He seemed pretty chilly, so I put him in a sink of warm water to warm him up a bit, then tried the collar again. This time, he spasmed, then his head popped up and he opened his eyes and blinked, looking right at me for a few seconds before closing them again. His head didn't flop over all limp, though, he actually kept his head up. And when I checked his chest, he was breathing on his own! Holy crap!
I set up a little ICU unit in my bathroom, under a heat lamp. Within minutes, his head was upright and he was responding to touch. His eyes were closed and he looked really tired, but he was actually alive and breathing. I kept him warm and comfortable and he was up and walking around within an hour or two.
Hubby told me that, if he survives, I should name him 'Miracle.'
I said, "Heck no! If he lives, I'm naming him Frankenstein!"
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UPDATE***** So now it's July and Frankenstein is still alive & well. In fact, he has fully matured and has just turned out to be a GORGEOUS rooster. He is just a barnyard mutt mix of OEGB & dutch bantam, but he is the prettiest color I've ever seen. He's blue with bright, flame-orange hackles and sickle feathers. So pretty and he knows it. Always strutting around with his little group of ladies. Can't believe it is the same rooster that I found stone cold dead in the coop back in January!
I officially now have the coolest farming story EVER. Today, I found one of the tiny bantam roosters on his back in the coop, with his feet twitching. He wasn't breathing, and his comb and wattles were pale. I tried doing chicken CPR, pumping his chest and puffing air in his beak (yuck, I know). His wattles would turn red for a while, but as soon as I stopped they would go pale again. He wasn't breathing on his own and his heart was stopped. I figured he was a goner, and I was thinking about where I was going to bury him, etc...
But, I ran into soft-hearted hubby on my way in the house and he was, of course, all distressed about the situation and I decided to keep trying a little longer on the CPR so I could say I tried everything. By this time, it had been about 5-10 minutes since I found the little guy in the coop.
I took him in the house and kept doing little chest pushes and puffing air into him, but he still wouldn't breathe on his own and he was starting to feel cold. He would still twitch and move every once in a while, but that was about it. I'd get air into him and push his chest and his wattles would pink up with oxygen, then as soon as I stopped they would go pale again. I started thinking, "Man, I wish I had some tiny little chicken defibrillator panels to shock his heart into starting again..."
I started wondering what I could improvise that would do the same thing without, of course, just cooking the poor chicken. Yes, I know I am crazy.
So, our labrador, Werner, has a fancy Dogtra training collar. It has a remote control with a button you push to give him a shock. We use it to train him not to bark and not to chase the cats, chickens, goats, etc...It has a little dial that lets you turn it up all the way to a max of 127. For the lab, we never need to turn it higher than 50 or so.
I figured, what the heck, the chicken is most likely dead anyway.
I laid him on the bathroom counter, held the collar against his side so that the metal probes were on either side of his heart (as close as I could tell anyway). Turned the collar up to about level 90, and pushed the button. The chicken stiffened up and his wing stuck out a bit, kind of like the TV shows where they zap the patient in the ER. First couple times that was all that happened. He seemed pretty chilly, so I put him in a sink of warm water to warm him up a bit, then tried the collar again. This time, he spasmed, then his head popped up and he opened his eyes and blinked, looking right at me for a few seconds before closing them again. His head didn't flop over all limp, though, he actually kept his head up. And when I checked his chest, he was breathing on his own! Holy crap!
I set up a little ICU unit in my bathroom, under a heat lamp. Within minutes, his head was upright and he was responding to touch. His eyes were closed and he looked really tired, but he was actually alive and breathing. I kept him warm and comfortable and he was up and walking around within an hour or two.
Hubby told me that, if he survives, I should name him 'Miracle.'
I said, "Heck no! If he lives, I'm naming him Frankenstein!"
------
UPDATE***** So now it's July and Frankenstein is still alive & well. In fact, he has fully matured and has just turned out to be a GORGEOUS rooster. He is just a barnyard mutt mix of OEGB & dutch bantam, but he is the prettiest color I've ever seen. He's blue with bright, flame-orange hackles and sickle feathers. So pretty and he knows it. Always strutting around with his little group of ladies. Can't believe it is the same rooster that I found stone cold dead in the coop back in January!
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