advice for getting vasoline/bag balm off feathers?

[pipthepeep]

I have been putting bag balm/ vasoline on my roo's comb overnight since he has been having issues with frostbite...but now his feathers are all greasy and sticky and dirty (he sleeps with his head tucked under his wings, so the bag balm literally is EVERYWHERE!). After a few dirt baths, he is just such a mess...and I can't imagine all that grease is doing anything good for insulating his feathers...I imagine it is preventing him from preening and fluffing up the way they usually do in cold weather Any advice on how to remove it? I tried a bath with dish soap/vinegar today, and, while it did help some, he is still a looooong way from clean...Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[Beekissed]

I would have left him to deal with it....and he would have over time. The problem with washing with astringents that remove grease is that fact it also removes his natural oils next to the skin and on his feathers, leaving him open to dry skin and the possibility of becoming wet to the skin in the next rain or snow.

I know it looks icky when they are greasy but they will eventually preen those oils right into their feathers along with their own.

 

[pipthepeep]

i guess i will just give up on it then --easier that way anyway....it has been that way for a few months already now, and i never really saw him preen.....it just seemed like it was getting more and more clumpy...i kept thinking of birds in oil spills and how it makes their feathers stick together and then they lose their insulation, but I guess vasoline isn't exactly the same thing!

 

[featherz]

My white leghorns are now brown since they dustbathe and have bag balm everywhere afterwards. I just let them be dirty and just hope no one sees em.