URGENT: HEN NEARLY DROWNED, PLEASE HELP

[Shaycres]

I'll cut to the chase.
Found my sweet, 13ish week old leghorn in a stock tank (just in time...?)
She is conscious but very weak. She keeps nodding off but I won't let her because I fear she won't ever wake up again. She is currently making a weird noise and jerking her head a bit. Please help me, she's my sweet little pet chicken :'(

 

[casportpony]

Yes - she wouldn't get too hot with the pad would she?

What I normally do is dry them off with warm towel, and maybe a little with the hair dryer. I place a heating pad on low, place a sleeping bag on top, then place the bird on a warm towel inside the sleeping bag.

 

[cassie]

My mother had some young chickens in a box in the house for a while. One of them got out of the box and found his way to the bathroom. My mother found him "drowned" in the toilet. She fished him out and she thought he was dead. She put him on the sun porch under a trash can lid until she could dispose of the body. Anyway, before long she heard this funny croak. The sun coming through the window warmed up the metal trash can lid which warmed up the chicken. He was a little weak and wobbly for a bit but in the end he was fine. My mother named him Lazarus. Anyway, the key here was to warm the chicken up. It doesn't take long in the water for the chicken to get badly chilled. In your case, warm it up. A heating pad might be a good idea but keep turning the chicken so it doesn't cook on one side.

 

[Shaycres]

With your stock tank keeping something that floats like a ramp made of wood in the stock tank can be the difference between life and death for unfortunate birds that accidentally fall in. Good luck with your hen I've got my fingers crossed for her.

The ironic part about this is that I was JUST headed there to put a floatation object in the tank for frogs that get stuck in there sometimes. Now I'm definitely going to build something like a ramp, I've lost a duck to this wretched tank too :'(

 

[Eggcessive]

Get her warm and dry with a warm towel and heat lamp if necessary. Hopefully, she will be alright. This could happen again with others so try to keep them away from the stock tanks if possible

 

[casportpony]

Suggestion...hold her upside down to let extra water leave her crop.

Have you done this before?

 

[Shaycres]

This story thankfully gets a happy ending...
The first picture is Waffles last night, and the second is her today.


Any recommendations for follow up? I know getting water into the lungs is bad news. Any shots or other preventative measures I could take to prevent any respiratory illness?

 

[casportpony]

She can't even stand at the moment, and can barely keep her head up. Seems like she just wants to sleep, I doubt she will have any interest in food right now.. Her breaths are really shallow and she's twitching a lot

Do you have a sleeping bag and heating pad?

 

[casportpony]

Could I possibly use a heat lamp instead or is a pad preferable?

I prefer a pad with them wrapped in a sleeping bag. We have lots of stock tanks here, so I get to do this a few times a year. If you can get them to the point where they are shivering they usually make it.

 

[demonic]

Try to dry her off as best as possible and clean her beak well. You can even put some VetRX on her beak so she can breathe better. Does she eat and drink? Is she pooping? Put water on her pellets so it’s softer for her to eat