CCan I wash????

[Billyj]

Ok I just had 2 baby chickies hatch last night. Seemed like a day early, but I could have counted wrong. Anyway, when I go up this morning, they are all crusty and their fluff is matted down. It was like there was an extra amount of the egg white stuff left in there when they hatched and that is what is crusty. When I felt it, it was hard. Is it possible to wash a newly hatched chick, or will it eventually be ok?

 

[eenie114]

Quote:
I would wait a while, maybe a few hours. As long as they can breathe, they should be fine.
DISCLAIMER:

I am no expert, this is just an opinion!

 

[tinychicky]

i wouldn't give them a full bath, but you can wipe them down with a warm damp cloth. just be sure they're kept warm enough while they dry. of course, you could just wait until the first molt- the albumen ( that's "egg white stuff" you were talking about

) will just come off with the feathers

 

[Cluck-a-Doodle-Doo]

We've had to clean a few "dirty" ones. We just Brush them with a toothbrush while running warm water over them. Take extra care in regulating the temperature of the water. After we're done we simply dry them with a blow drier on the lowest settings. A lot of times washing isn't necessary though. All it takes is brushing them with the toothbrush to get the dried up mess off.