Bath time?

[vanilla.exe]

How do you give your chicks baths if they need it? My little fuzzy ones definitely need it. I was thinking of filling the bath tub with a few inches of lukewarm water and using a tooth brush to gently scrub them. What kind of soap can I use? We have Dr. Bronner's liquid soap which is organic and doesn't have the bad stuff that most soaps have in them, but it's peppermint scented (with real peppermint) so would that be bad for them? We ran out of our regular unscented goat milk soap last week. Anything else I can use? Is it okay to towel dry them?

 

[harris farm]

why do u want to bathe the chicks? just wanting to know.

 

[vanilla.exe]

Because they're covered in poop. I know I can't prevent that so much since they will walk where they please but when they start pooping ON each other, the least I can do is give them a bath.

 

[SilkieChickenLover336]

if you bathe them they can get hypthermia and die................. it would be better if they are chickens because they wont but since they are chicks i would just use a warm wash cloth and gently scrub the poo off

 

[Doopy]

I sure wouldn't want to be a chicken at your house. They're birds for crying out loud. Birds poop on each other all the time.

 

[vanilla.exe]

@Silkie: I hadn't thought of the washcloth idea

@doopy: Rude much? I give most of my animals baths if it's deemed necessary. Plus I remember from rearing quail that you're supposed to clean their toes off if they get caked with poo. I assume it's the same with chickens?

 

[suzeqf]

if i have one a young one that's just really nasty and caked up and doesn't seem to be able to get it off i'll fill a bottle with warm and run it over the poo and use my fingers to clean it and then depending on how wet it got i usually put a towel in the dryer and dry it off really good and if it's cool outside i'll turn on the heat lamp and use it kinda like a hair dryer to get it dry and to knock off any chill it may have gotten but if the chick just has a bit of poo on it wing or back i just let them deal with it i have wiped sticky poo off of a few feet with my gloved hand while i'm cleaning things up but most of the time i let them deal with their own hygiene

 

[NewHopePoultry]

I just use a thick baby wipe with warm water

 

[SilkieMama17]

I've got one lil silkie with a pasty butt problem, and so he/she has poo stuck to the butt allllll the time. I just run the lil fuzzy butt under some warm water and remove the poo w/my hand. Lil chick def. does NOT like it, but it's really the best way I've found to get the poo off. I don't think I'd put a poopy chick in a actual bath, though. Seems like a recipe for hypothermia.

 

[pixiedouglas]

I didn't want to risk chicks getting cold, they shed the down so fast and feather in that the poop is gone before you know it. If it was REALLY bad just a warm sturdy paper towel and a gentle scrub on only the bad area. I noticed once we moved them to the bigger brooder they were much cleaner.