I've read about people giving their chickens a bath. I have a couple light color birds that are really looking dirty and I would like to clean them up but not sure how exactly. I want some details, like what do you use for shampoo? Do you do the whole bird? How do you dry them so they don't end up all mud? And can you do it any time or does it need to be a warm day? I'm looking for suggestions before I try it myself.
I bathe my chickens if they are dirty or have poop stuck to them. I use dawn dish soap(works the best) and wash them in the kitchen sink in warm water. The tempature of the water is the same temp as my bath water. When I'm finished washing and rinsing all the soap out, I wrap them in a towel and pat dry. I then blow dry until 100% dry. My girls tolerate the bath's pretty well. I sit with them on the couch a bit before putting them back. I actually think they feel better after the bath. They like being clean.
I am not at all an experienced chicken bather....but when i tried it out with my two bantams a while ago it went pretty well. I ran them shallow bath in the tub and just used Dawn dish soap to scrub em' down ( gentler than that made it sound). I laid a towel down on the bathroom floor and blow dried them. ( They LOVED the blow dryer ) They where show-ready by the morning
We wash chickens all the time to take to the fair. I do it OUTSIDE and use 3 plastic dish tubs with warm water... one for washing, two for rinsing. Dawn dishsoap works fine. You can use an old toothbrush to work the dried poop off. I just do it in the back yard. I found it's easier with 2 people, one to hold and one to wash. If you hold their feet in the water and put one hand over their back, they can't flap out of the tub. If the water is warm they usually like it after they get used to it. Have the "holding person" flip them over and hold them belly up to wash the bottom. Then wrap them in an old bath towel to dry for a few minutes then put them in a cage in the sun to dry. They preen their feathers while they dry and fluff and look great. As long as it's a nice warm day, there's no need to blow dry. Lisa
Do you ever clip the poopy feathers? I have a real fluffy butt who seems to get a yucky bottom. Figures she is the cuddly one that always wants to sit on your lap! LOL
Do short feather'd chickens get as dirty as like a frizzled cochin? My white cochin is filthy but I can't tell with my short feathered New Hamshire Red
Quote:I have a couple hens who are messy sometimes that I have clipped some of the butt fluff back & they have stayed clean.
