Bathing Chicks

[silverwing0904]

Lately my baby chicks have been really starting to stink.

Is it ok to bathe them and if so how?

 

[Jenski]

Little ones should not really stink (but their brooder might). Are they getting covered with poo? If that is the case, and if you are also using shavings, you might turn the shavings with a cat litter scoop every day, and change it out completely every 4-5 days or per week if it really needs it. How many do you have in what size brooder?

And . . . the only other thing I can think of that might stink besides poo would be an infection of some sort. If you hold one up near you and take a sniff of its face/beak and it smells bad - - like infection - - then you might have a more serious problem. I am not seeing any folks with this issue on very young chicks, though.

Please keep us posted. Hope that helps!

 

[Chic's Chickens]

Yeah, my chicks never smell, it is the brooder...

 

[txchickie]

It's gotta be the brooder, they shouldn't stink?

Man, I would have some maaaad chickies if I tried to bathe them LOL!

 

[silverwing0904]

What kind of infection could it be?

 

[lindseythefork]

I don't think you should ever have to bathe a chick, really.. I would do a serious scrub-down of your brooder and keep up with the cleaning and see how that goes.

 

[crazy for chicken]

if the food get wet that is what smells bad also

 

[CityClucks]

Chicks are so RUDE! They don't bother to walk around another peep in the brooder...no, they just step on top of her. And they poop on each other...that's when I take one out and bathe her. Poor peeps - having to live with other rude peeps.

 

[melissastraka]

I have done it once but not on purpose. I was "wiping a fuzzy butt"

and he fell into the sink, unclogged of course. It was so cute to see him next to the fuzzy ones in the brooder...i should have got a picture! He wasnt happy with me...

 

[jvls1942]

do not bathe chicks. it won't be long and they will start to preen their own feathers..

I will lay 10 to 1 your brooder needs cleaning..

we clean our in house brooder daily