can i give her a bath?

[wildriverswolf90]

Unfortunately my three week old white cochin was not smart enough to roost on the 2x4 last night and instead slept right under the butts of the other chicks so she covered in poo

Can I give her a bath and how do I do it safely?

 

[colebarnhart]

Yes, you can do it any number of ways and use a baby shampoo or something else and do it in your sink or outside in a mop bucket.

 

[nurse_turtle]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=99105

Adorable thread!

 

[saladin]

At 3 weeks of age? I would never even think of getting a chick that young wet!

Just fix the sleeping arrangements. You shouldn't have a roost in a pen for chicks that age. No roost until 16 weeks and older!

 

[steffpeck]

Quote:
Why can't they roost until they are 16 weeks or older?? My momma hen has her 8 week old babies up on the roost with her and they have been getting up there with her for a few weeks. And they do just fine. I have roosts at low levels where I put my chicks that hatch from the incubator from the beginning. Why is this wrong?

 

[saladin]

Quote:
Why can't they roost until they are 16 weeks or older?? My momma hen has her 8 week old babies up on the roost with her and they have been getting up there with her for a few weeks. And they do just fine. I have roosts at low levels where I put my chicks that hatch from the incubator from the beginning. Why is this wrong?

It makes for crooked breast bones. Sometimes even breast blisters will appear.

It's not that the bird can't; it's that it is not a good thing on growning maturing bones.

 

[2hot2chicken]

No roost until after 16 weeks of age?????
This is something I have NEVER heard of! Thus I just called a friend of mine who is a veterinarian and also a farmer himself who has raised many chickens...... and he had never heard this either???????

Wondering where this information came from???? What sources???????

I have given chicks as young as 1 week old a bath using baby shampoo in my sink. I also used a blow dryer when I was done to ensure it was most of the way dry before going back into the brooder. If its already in the coop I would say keep it inside until its fully dry and even then maybe for a few more hours to make sure...... But I would fix the problem to so it doesn't happen again. Figure out a way to put a poop board under the roost and put some shavings on it so its easy to clean off.

I have a small branch attached to a piece of wood on each end that is now in with my 4+ week old silkies and even them being silkies most of them love to roost on it at night... Even if it is just 3 inches off the shavings! LOL And most silkies do not roost but I put it in there because I had brahma chicks in with them for the 1st couple of weeks and the brahmas loved to climb on it. They have had it since they were a couple days old and have been using it to roost at night for a couple weeks now!

 

[C17]

If you give her a bath, make sure you keep her warm .....afterwards.

 

[Yonaton]

Quote:
You don't offer any proof of this, nor that it's even roosting that does it. You really need to stop giving this kind of advice without citing any proof. This is one of the most awful posts I've seen in a while on here and all it's doing is spreading ignorance.

 

[kittykat01]

I just bathed both of my 7 wk old chicks. I used a bucket of warm water with more warm water to pour over them, no soap as I didn't want to dry out their skin. The plain water worked well. I toweled them off afterwards and encouraged them out into the sunshine (it is about 25 degree c here during the day). Neither of them minded it, and both were very happy with their clean feathers afterwards....

can't be too nice having someone elses poop all over you...