I have two white pavlovskya hens that are in desperate need of a bath. A summer full of sticking their faces in watermelons and muddy days has taken its toll and the girls look dingey to say the least. I've bathed some of my other hens before but I've never bathed hens with such fluffy heads. What is the best way to clean the feathers on their little noggins and make them look extra white? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
For my show chickens (I am new at this) I used three tubs. A friend of mine told me this method. First tub is soap (I used dawn) and water. The second, vinegar and water. The last tub is fresh water. Each chicken makes it way through all three tubs and they came out squeaky clean. My white duck loved his bath and came out a completely new shade of white I had no idea he even was!
I've never shown chickens but I've read that after bathing a white chicken for showing, they put them through a rinse with a little laundry bluing. That said, the best way to bathe a soiled chicken (dirt, not poop) is to give them some clean sand to dirt bathe in. The sand will get rid of all the soil in the feathers, including the head. It's one reason chickens dirt bathe is to clean and condition their feathers. A poop soiled chicken is another story. I have a BO hen that has a habit of tucking herself under the butts of a couple large-breed hens instead of roosting at night. Up until now, she's pretty much escaped a direct hit. But this morning, she had a puddle of poop on her back that literally needed scraping before I placed her in a wash basin and hosed off her back.