My silkie and showgirl chicks are two weeks old now. Some of them are very messy eaters! Would it okay for me to give them a "bath" with a warm, damp wash cloth to clean them off? I don't feel like it is healthy for them to be wearing their food, but I don't want to chill them. Thanks!
I don't know how old they have to be but people do wash show chickens?? I would be scared they would get chilled that young
Give them a flat container, a few inches deep, filled with sand, peat moss or other material they can dust bathe in. I'd be afraid of chilling them too.
You can wsh them but you'll want to make sure you do so in a really warm room. Put a space heater in your bathroom & get the room sauna warm. Wash them as you would any animal (lather, rinse, repeat) and then wrap them in a towel as you dry them on a low heat setting with a hair dryer. Or just give them dirt & let them dirt bathe.
Quote:Chickens are clean creatures, they never get dirty in a clean environment water bath is not recommended, if their bedding is kept clean they manage to keep themselfs clean.
I'd either find a place for them to take a dust bath or make a dust bath for them in their brooder. Let them take care of their bathing. No chance of them getting chilled that way.
I have tried giving my chicks a place to dust bath but they eat so much of the sand I have to take it out.
What are you feeding that causes them to get so dirty? The only time I've gotten my chicks wet was cleaning paste butts and only if wet paper towels didn't work.
Won't hurt them to eat some sand. I would't get them wet this young. If they are covered with food are you feeding somthing besides crumbles ?
I've seen posts here on BYC where people gave their chickens a bath and the chickens LOVED it. Right now, my kids are begging to give our white Silkies baths because of all the rain last weekend, our poor girls are kinda icky. I'm hesitant though. 2 week old chicks seem a bit young, unless you carefully dry them with a blow dryer and increase the brooder temp until they are thoroughly dry. I do think it's a little bit risky.
