My boss chicken, an easter egger, collapsed from heat exhaustion yesterday afternoon. I brought her inside and gave her a bath. I've been giving her water with a pipette, and she's in a pet carrier lined with hay inside the house (78ish degrees F).
I have been seeing small improvements, but she still doesn't stand and sleeps all the time and does not appear to be eating or drinking on her own. When I first brought her in she would not hold her head up or sit on her feet, but by the time the bath was over she was holding her head up. That evening she could sit on her feet and was starting to protest having her beak opened for the pipette. This morning I touched her and she opened her eyes and whipped her head around to look at me. This afternoon when I went home over my lunch break to give her water, I was able to just squeeze the pipette onto the side of her beak and she drank once a larger amount had entered her beak, although her eyes were half closed the entire time. She does wake up all the way when I move her. She didn't touch her piece of bell pepper (her favorite) that I gave her today, though.
t's been 24 hours, so I was curious if she is likely to regain normal functions, as I've seen a few posts about heat exhausted chickens functioning normally after spending the night inside.
Also, is pedialite okay to feed chickens for electrolytes? I'm also considering giving her some fresh uncooked homemade low sodium mild salsa for dinner.
I have been seeing small improvements, but she still doesn't stand and sleeps all the time and does not appear to be eating or drinking on her own. When I first brought her in she would not hold her head up or sit on her feet, but by the time the bath was over she was holding her head up. That evening she could sit on her feet and was starting to protest having her beak opened for the pipette. This morning I touched her and she opened her eyes and whipped her head around to look at me. This afternoon when I went home over my lunch break to give her water, I was able to just squeeze the pipette onto the side of her beak and she drank once a larger amount had entered her beak, although her eyes were half closed the entire time. She does wake up all the way when I move her. She didn't touch her piece of bell pepper (her favorite) that I gave her today, though.
t's been 24 hours, so I was curious if she is likely to regain normal functions, as I've seen a few posts about heat exhausted chickens functioning normally after spending the night inside.
Also, is pedialite okay to feed chickens for electrolytes? I'm also considering giving her some fresh uncooked homemade low sodium mild salsa for dinner.