Warming Chilled Kits

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An idea hit me recently when a first timer delivered on the wire, and I found 8 dead kits...
I used my egg incubator!! Spaced the kits off to the side of the heating element- put warm water in the bottom, and removed all the air plugs from the cover.

That litter did not survive, BUT, the kits that revived, temporarily, showed me my thinking was not off. I opted for the incubator because my heating pad has a timer on it, and will not operate beyond 30 minutes, AND I cannot regulate the temps as easily. The moisture(humidity) within the egg incubator helps with the lung function, as well.
One time, I lay cold kits on the tile floor about 8 inches away from the wood stove-- but I feel that is too risky-- the kits are exposed to heat on one side, and what could be a cold floor on the other.
 
I have often used a home made incubator of sorts for critically ill birds usually - though it would work for kits too (and has been used for kittens)

I have a small rubber maid tote which fits into a small rubber made tote - leaving a few inches at the bottom - when you fill the bottom with warm water and then put the totes on a heating pad on low it keeps the temp in the upper tote quite warm and consistent you can cover it or not depending on how hot you want it ... I have also used a submersible heater to keep the water warm - both work ...

I had forgotten all about that set up til I read the post above ... it was a free set up for me - and has saved many a life
 
Brody":2ng6pbfy said:
I have often used a home made incubator of sorts for critically ill birds usually - though it would work for kits too (and has been used for kittens)

I have a small rubber maid tote which fits into a small rubber made tote - leaving a few inches at the bottom - when you fill the bottom with warm water and then put the totes on a heating pad on low it keeps the temp in the upper tote quite warm and consistent you can cover it or not depending on how hot you want it ... I have also used a submersible heater to keep the water warm - both work ...

I had forgotten all about that set up til I read the post above ... it was a free set up for me - and has saved many a life
Click to expand...

This is similar to the homemade incubators we are taught to make when rehabbing wildlife--use a small glass aquarium inside another, with the heating pad between the aquarium bottoms, and a bowl of water for humidity next to the 'nest' of whatever small animal you are trying to save. Amazing what we can come up with, isn't it? :D

terry<br /><br />__________ Tue Feb 02, 2010 11:15 am __________<br /><br />Thought of another way to warm up a chilled animal--use those hand and toe warmers that hunters use-- inexpensive, requires no electrical connection. Just remember to put a barrier of some sort,(towel or shirt)between kit and packet so the kit doesn't get burned (those things can get pretty hot)
 
The mink farmer I used to work for uses the egg incubator with some water in the bottom for reviving mink kits. They're even more neonatal than rabbit kits, so very prone to chilling the first little bit (especially if mama has them on the wire). Works really well.

I have been known to stuff them (mink and rabbit kits!) down my shirt while I do chores. :D
 
Great link, Marian. And I was especially glad it was there today! Nasty raw day and Alice had to kindle. She had eight, in the nest box, but only lightly covered. Most are wriggling and I am using a variation of the idea here to warm them. They hadn't been there all that long... David checked on her around 4:00 pm. - nothing - and I went down at 5:30 and found them. I'll keep them here overnight, I think, and if they make it return them to her tomorrow morning. Alice is a good mom... I think she just had not finished pulling fur. But I do not think the kits would have survived without intervention. They may not anyway... but at least they have a chance.
 
I use the good old fashion way of warming chilled kits by sticking them down my shirt, and holding a hot water bottle against my chest and the baby. It works great for me.
 
the theory works devon but the reality is the more consitent and manegable a heat source you have the better success you have
I have used that method in a total emerg too - driving with babies down one's short you pray the cops won't be stopping you ;) but i prefer the incubator set up outlined above for longer terms litters
 
Well, we still have live kits this morning. I'll be taking them down to mom shortly and then I'll find out how many of the eight made it. I just peeked this morning, not wanting to disturb them twice.

What I did was this. I took a large 2 kg. peanut butter tub and sacrificed a piece of fur trim to make bedding. I built the nest around a wine bottle full of hot water, so there was an inch of wool between the sides of the container and the hole made by the bottle. When it was good and warm, I transferred the kits and covered them with the fur Alice had pulled and covered all with a folded facecloth. Then I floated the whole thing in a bowl of warm water. After the kits were all nice and warm, I took the container out of the water, wrapped a towel around it and put it in a box to keep Marilla away from them. They spent the night in the linen cupboard which is near a register.
 
perfect :)

nice innovation there Maggie - do you want some angora wool to cut or did Allice end up pulling more fur?
 
Thanks for the offer, Brody, but we have lots of fur around plus a sack of downy goose feathers, so save your Angora wool for spinning. :)

I think in future when I have does kindling in cool weather I may prepare a container in advance, to speed things up if there are problems.

Off to face the Dragon (Patrick) and restore the Popple Princes and Princesses to Queen Alice. :D
 
No, the kits didn't make it. They looked good in the morning when I reunited them with Alice and she hopped in and fed them... At least the couple I checked after looked fed. But by evening they were all looking bad and the next morning they were dead. I'm not quite sure what went wrong. Polly kindled two kits the next day and they were both dead in the morning. There has been a lot of extra noise and disturbance from our hormonal geese. It may have upset the does.

I will be moving the rabbits to the summer rabbitry before they kindle again. The geese will still be around, but they will not be sharing the shed the way they are doing at present.
 
The best method I have found to warm new born kits, is to hold them by the head, and carefully submerge all but the nose and mouth in hot water-[not hot enough to burn your hand] then after a minute take them out and feel them, if they are still cold, do it again, until they are warm. -once they are warm, you can decide if they are dead or not.
 
Actually getting them wet risks chilling them between removing from water and being dry. What worked in our emergency was to stick them in a ziplock bag and put that in a pot of water filled with hot tap water on the stove so they got all the heat of the water but not wet. It was only for a short time though to avoid them running out of oxygen since I closed the bag to reduce risk of water getting in. Also probably would have looked rather disturbing if anyone had shown up at the house. :lol: Any type of container filled with hot water can be set around them. It's best to have a barrier of some kind. Such as sticking 2 bottles of hot water on either side, laying a towel over the whole thing, and putting the kits in the indent between the bottles. I have a predictable, quickly working electric blanket now if longer term heat is needed. I've had to use it on hedgehogs going into hibernation a couple times.
 

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