cd3farm
In the Brooder
- Feb 2, 2015
- 66
- 6
- 41
I thought I would post this information as several have appreciated the info when I have told them about it.
The first time it happened (35 years ago which tells you how long I've been raising chickens) I had 18 Buff Orpington pullets and we were away from home at a party when one of those freak Oklahoma thunderstorms came up. Home was 15 minutes away and the storm was so bad we had to stop due to the wind and hail. When we got home all my pullets were laying around the yard, cold to the touch, stiffening, and unconscious. I was sure they were dead. I was so mad, I had babied them so much, and I was bawling! They looked naked. I saw one toe twitch and I grabbed it and ran into the house and grabbed the blow dryer. Then I sort of thought "what the heck and ran and got the others and put them all in a big box with the blow dryer on low blowing down on them. We went to bed and I just knew I would have to dispose of all their little bodies in the morning. Low and behold in the morning you couldn't even tell anything had ever happened. They were all fluffy and trying to get out of the box.
I had to do it again this spring when some of my young English Blue Orpingtons didn't go into their house like I thought they had. In the middle of the night as a storm blew through. Again, it looked like two were dead. I was pretty positive they were dead, but I remembered back to the other time and sure enough they came right back to life after being blow dried. They had been cold like that for quite some time as the storm came through in the middle of the night. They were pretty quiet for a few hours, but now I have no idea which ones they even were.
I guess what I am saying is don't think their dead until they really are. They can be pretty tough little ones to kill!
The first time it happened (35 years ago which tells you how long I've been raising chickens) I had 18 Buff Orpington pullets and we were away from home at a party when one of those freak Oklahoma thunderstorms came up. Home was 15 minutes away and the storm was so bad we had to stop due to the wind and hail. When we got home all my pullets were laying around the yard, cold to the touch, stiffening, and unconscious. I was sure they were dead. I was so mad, I had babied them so much, and I was bawling! They looked naked. I saw one toe twitch and I grabbed it and ran into the house and grabbed the blow dryer. Then I sort of thought "what the heck and ran and got the others and put them all in a big box with the blow dryer on low blowing down on them. We went to bed and I just knew I would have to dispose of all their little bodies in the morning. Low and behold in the morning you couldn't even tell anything had ever happened. They were all fluffy and trying to get out of the box.
I had to do it again this spring when some of my young English Blue Orpingtons didn't go into their house like I thought they had. In the middle of the night as a storm blew through. Again, it looked like two were dead. I was pretty positive they were dead, but I remembered back to the other time and sure enough they came right back to life after being blow dried. They had been cold like that for quite some time as the storm came through in the middle of the night. They were pretty quiet for a few hours, but now I have no idea which ones they even were.
I guess what I am saying is don't think their dead until they really are. They can be pretty tough little ones to kill!
