URGENT: Chicken trapped under plastic container for 11 hours in 95 degree weather

[Tesumph]

Not to be controversial, but I would strongly advise against submerging her body in water. Her body could too easily go into shock, causing her body temperature to plummet and not rise again.
Using a wet rag under her wings is a better idea, as well as letting her stand in some cool water (not ice water). Keep trying to dip her beak in water to get her drinking. I would let her stay inside for 2-3 days; if she has heat stroke, the organ damage could still easily kill her. Putting her back in the heat before her body can internally recover could push her over the edge.

 

[BreadBreadson]

Everyone, thank you so much for your advice. I was able to get a little water in her mouth and she has started drinking voraciously on her own. She seems to be recovering, and we will continue to monitor her closely and keep her cool.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Everyone, thank you so much for your advice. I was able to get a little water in her mouth and she has started drinking voraciously on her own. She seems to be recovering, and we will continue to monitor her closely and keep her cool.

YAY!!!

 

[HuskerHens18]

Not to be controversial, but I would strongly advise against submerging her body in water. Her body could too easily go into shock, causing her body temperature to plummet and not rise again.
Using a wet rag under her wings is a better idea

This was my thought as well.

Everyone, thank you so much for your advice. I was able to get a little water in her mouth and she has started drinking voraciously on her own. She seems to be recovering, and we will continue to monitor her closely and keep her cool.

That's awesome to hear!!!! I'll keep her in my prayers!

 

[redblack10]

I am so happy to hear that she is a fighter! Please post updates for a couple of days - I need to hear about triumphs, because I just lost 2 to a predator.

 

[Dona Worry]

Cooling abruptly can cause shock.
Cool electrolytes, cool, dark room with fan or AC.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I've had to do this on more than one occasion. Wet cloths won't bring the body temperature down sufficiently and in time. We're talking about a bird with lots of insulation and it takes a lot of water to reach the skin.
After a week or so of extreme heat (100+), I'll find a bird laying on the floor of a building in the morning but still alive. A bath will bring the body temperature down and sometimes the bird only has minutes. I usually don't force any water immediately. Just being in a space that is between 60 and 70, low light and in a few hours, they are usually standing up and able to drink on their own.
The only mistake I've made was to put a bird back in the coop the next day when it appeared recovered. The heat exhaustion has a cumulative effect. I lost a nice Welsummer and I'm sure she would be OK today if I had kept her in the air conditioning a couple more days and slowly acclimated her to the heat.
I've done the reverse for chicks that have been chilled and unresponsive. Brought into a warm space and run a hair dryer on low over the chick and they always come back.

 

[azygous]

Cooling or rewarming a chicken with hyperthermia and hypothermia respectively by applying cold or heat to the underside of the wings (wing pits) and breast area is effective because most of the chicken's vascular system is close to the surface in these spots. You aren't cooling or heating the skin, but rather heating or cooling the blood supply.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That too. I think legs, feet, combs and wattles are a good place to start.

 

[Eggcessive]

So glad that you found your chicken in time to save her, and that she is responding well to your treatment.

I had a similar experience when my bantam rooster jumped into a nearly empty garbage can where out scratch grains for treats was stored. I had been trying to catch some extra cockerels that I was giving to a friend to butcher, and throwing scratch out to coax them in. When I finished, I put the lid on, and didn’t discover my little Sarge until the next morning, lying down, comb looking blue, having eaten some scratch and having no water to drink for 12 hours. He did recover within a couple of hours, but that was so scary.