Can i use head & shoulder shampoo to bath chicken

[Jz8899]

Decide to give my bantom a bath, Can i use head & shoulder?

 

[topochico225]

Decide to give my bantom a bath, Can i use head & shoulder?

I wouldn't, don't know if any ingredients are harmful. You don't really need soap, anyway, it strips away the natural oil layer on the feathers.

Why are you bathing your bird?

 

[3KillerBs]

Why do you want to give the chicken a bath? As a general rule, dry chickens are healthy chickens.

You should ask the people who show chickens what they use to bathe a bird without harming it.

 

[topochico225]

If you're bathing the bird just because, don't. My birds get extremely stressed when I've had to bathe them in the past. Too much washing can also remove all the good coatings from the feathers and degrade them.

If you're washing the bird because it's really dirty, check out this article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-give-chicken-baths.64517/

Good luck! The phrase "madder than a wet hen" is around for a reason.

 

[Jz8899]

I thought it would make the bird cleaner, they pick under their feather sometime.

 

[topochico225]

I thought it would make the bird cleaner, they pick under their feather sometime.

That's called preening, it's a totally natural and normal thing for chickens to do. Kind of like brushing your hair or clipping your nails!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I thought it would make the bird cleaner, they pick under their feather sometime.

That's normal grooming. Most chickens will never need you to bathe them in their lifetime. Better to offer them an open patch of dirt to roll in, as dust bathing is their preference.

If you ever NEED to bathe a bird, Dawn dish soap would be a better choice, as it's used in oil spill rescues.

 

[Tonyroo]

There dust bath should be enough for them.

 

[3KillerBs]

I thought it would make the bird cleaner, they pick under their feather sometime.

Birds preen to put their feathers into good order and to distribute the natural oils from the preen gland at the base of their tail.

The Wikipedia Article has a lot of helpful information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preening

 

[Acre4Me]

Generally, no need to wash them. But, if you needed to for a reason then you need low/no scent, AND low sudsing. I have had success with an all natural “dish soap” for baby bottles and it is sold at Walmart. I tested 3-4 types of soaps that were liquid, non scented, and mild. It was important to me that it rinse out easily and quickly. They do not really like baths…however all chickens I have bathed love the hair dryer. Yes, you will need to dry their fluffy undercoat bc they will get too cold if you don’t, as it doesn’t dry very quickly on its own.