Fastest and best way to warm up frozen kits?

[GBov]

Having tucked a few cold kits under my shirt to warm them up this month I was wondering, what is the fastest and best way to warm them up?

My first batch were just cold and still moving but the second two were stone cold.

Five of the first six made it just fine but the two really cold ones didn't.

Is there a way to tell if its even worth trying to save them? Those two got a dried rabbit hide and a microwave heating blanket but to no avail.

 

[TwoAcreDream]

My most recent challenge was the purebred calis I just saved from
a doe I had only just purchased the day before, and she was not
supposed to be pregnant.
I did the evening feeding about a half hour early and found 7 on the
wire. Some were moving. I really didn't even think about shoving them
under my jacket, but just grabbed them up in my hands and covered as
best I could and ran for the house. Very cold day it was.
I hit the thermostat to take the house from 75 on this end to 80.
Went into the bathroom and put them in a towel in the sink and
grabbed the hair dryer. Put it on lowest setting and proceeded to
pass it back and forth over them. I moved them around from one side
to the other and kept the dryer moving. I saved 5 of the 7.
There was also 1 minature one on the wire when I went back out.
That one I did try to save but couldn't. I kept the babies wrapped in
a towel, in the sink overnight to keep them warm.
I just knew the faster I could get them warmed up, the better results.

I did have 2 mixed moms with babies that I was able to split the 5
calis up with to foster. The other litters are 2 day older.
The 27th, those litters will be 2 weeks old and all is well.
I only lost 1 mixed baby from the mixed moms because it came out of the
nest on her teat probably and had no way to get back into the nestbox.

Only thing I would do different in the winter would be to
put the babies inside of my sweatshirt and run faster to the house.
I do check often when I know a doe is due. It's the surprise ones,
I don't have much control over. Plan is to have a closed rabbitry
going forward now.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I immediately put them in my shirt for the trip to the house. I then put a few towels in the dryer to warm. I make a small hollow in the towels, place the kits in it, and loosely cover with the corner of a towel. I then close the door to keep the heat in and tell everyone that there are babies in the dryer and warn them not to turn it on.

Is there a way to tell if its even worth trying to save them?

If you see dark blood in their toenails they are already gone.

 

[GBov]

I immediately put them in my shirt for the trip to the house. I then put a few towels in the dryer to warm. I make a small hollow in the towels, place the kits in it, and loosely cover with the corner of a towel. I then close the door to keep the heat in and tell everyone that there are babies in the dryer and warn them not to turn it on.

Is there a way to tell if its even worth trying to save them?

If you see dark blood in their toenails they are already gone.

Tried to warm up a kit today - pulled out of nest box by a good doe, not her fault - but failed to revive. Checked its toenails and they had dark specks in them. Just the front feet though.

Good to know I can see if its worth the time to try now, thanks! <br /><br />__________ Thu Dec 26, 2013 1:03 pm __________<br /><br />Feeding a cold stiff kit to the dogs is much easier than feeding a nicely warmed up, yet still dead, kit to them, for some reason.

PACKED that does cage with hay, she did the same thing last time. I thought tipping the nest box up the other way so she has to almost jump out would fix the problem so I didn't take the precaution of putting in extra hay.

 

[Schipperkesue]

Fastest is not always best, but often I find I have no choice. When I have time I put them next to my bare skin and warm them for at least an hour. You want their temperature the same throughout. No point having warm skin and a cold core. Many a time I have carried a cold kit around in my bra. Good thing there is a lot of room in there!

If I don't have time I will run water to warm but comfortable, and then hold them under it until the begin moving, then pop them onto a heating pad.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

I read something about checkin the toes color to see if they are too far gone. Personally i shove em in my shirt and take em to the house. I have only had a couple i have had to try and save but one time was a whole litter. Singles i hold against my skin under all my layers at the warmest part of me at the time. Us girls are lucky to have breasts at times like these are really often life savers!

The whole litter though i took into the house and held them all on my chest and belly with dryer warmed throw blanket laid over me. Generally once a few start moving you can tell if any seem dead already.

 

[KKRabbitry]

I had a little Jersey Wooly baby slip out of the nest box when she was 1 day old. Found her on the floor, cold, wet, and not moving.
I was sure she was dead until I saw her mouth gasp a little bit. I spent about 15 minutes warming her up with the hair-dryer.
By the end of that she was moving and squirming around! I put her back in the nestbox and she made it..........BUT, her back feet got frost bite so bad they are a now just little nobs. Missing a few toes on her front feet, too.