Bringing Back Sally From the Abyss

After rains we catch three or four hundred gallons of rainwater.  I turn the water off that feeds the cows' water troughs and fill their trough with the rainwater until we've exhausted the supply of rainwater.  There is a risk to doing this, though.  By the time I get home in the afternoon, the cows have been drinking a lot of water and have reduced the water level in the trough by about a third. This is not a problem for the cows as they can crane their necks down inside the trough and drink to their hearts' content.

The problem is the chickens.  Normally, they hop up on the edge of the cattle trough and dip their beaks down in the water to drink.  Except when the water level is only 2/3's full, sometimes chickens fall into the water and can't get out.  Most of the time, the dogs will hear the chickens thrashing about and will bark and alert us. Sometimes though, they don't.  One evening I came in and found Sally, the hen, floating in the trough.

I picked her up and sat her down on the ground.  She fell over on her side very, very weak.  She stunk, too.  Wet chickens stink! Even though it was warm outside at around 80 degrees, the hen was cold to the touch and she was shaking. Hypothermia.  She had been in the trough long enough to where she was unable to maintain her body temperature.  We've learned that unless action is taken, the hen will die.

Here's what we do:  We dry her off with a towel and bring her into the garage and put her in a big molasses tub.  This keeps wind from chilling her wet feathers. Then we put a heat lamp over her.  Not too close, but not too far away, either.  At first she couldn't even stand on her legs.  Over the course of about 20 minutes, she was up on her feet!

About 10 minutes later, I heard her clucking and standing erect.

Ten minutes later she had knocked the heat lamp to the side and was perched on the side of the molasses tub, presumably to roost there for the night.  That signaled me that we were successful in bringing Sally back from the brink of death.  She is out on the pasture now eating worms.  Had we not taken immediate action she would be about a foot deep in the garden feeding worms.