Do you give your chickens a bath?

[nancy1zak]

We have two white bantam cochins and they are looking not so snowy white these days. Does anything give their chickens a bath? If so, what is the right way to do it?

 

[MrRushed]

I turn on a sprinkler and my girls go under it on thier own.
It works great and they love it.

 

[NRacine]

I've put my girls in the laundry tub for baths before! It's...interesting. I try to do it on a warm sunny day so they dry out quickly. I use the mildest soap I have. Some of them hate it and get flighty, some just go with it. Be prepared for a mess just in case. Good luck!

 

[tellynpeep]

I had a lavender Cochin that I bathed. I used shampoo and blow-dried her. She loved it and was GORGEOUS afterwards. But she was very docile, a pet really, and loved being handled.

I went on a site about how to bathe your chickens before a show... don't have it now, but I'm sure you can google it.

 

[tellynpeep]

Here it is! http://www.hcfair.net/Livestock/Poultry Clinic/Bathing and Grooming your Chicken.pdf

 

[hipeatall]

My son and I bathed his trio of bantam cochins for our first show back in April. It was the first time I'd ever bathed chickens and it was an experience I will keep with me for a long time. We did the bathing in our house, in the bathroom - big mistake!- after the chickens were clean and dry, we had a huge mess to clean up. Next time, the bathing will be done outside for sure

.
The chickens really LOVED it... I think the warm water must have felt really nice... they also seemed to enjoy the blowing dry - which took a long time... oh, and they did smell really nice for days.

 

[obxWaMi]

I couldn't imagine washing a chicken, but there is a documentary about chickens on Netflix (available to watch instantly) and there is a lady in it that is washing a fluffy white chicken! She even dried it with a hair dryer and then took it to the grocery store with her in her handbag. Very informative show if you subscribe to Netflix and care to watch it.
My girls were the definition of "madder than a wet hen" when we accidentally turned on the garden sprinkler when they were close to it!

 

[CloggingChicken]

I have given our Silkies and Orpingtons baths. We have used both dog shampoo and Baby shampoo, the dog was used when we found lice. I was amazed to see that they didn't mind it much. The biggest issue was moving the faucet from one side to the other had to be done with our hand on the end and slowly or the birds panicked. The white birds may not look completely white while wet but they dry to a beautiful clean appearance, so don't worry about trying to make them pure white.

There is a documented set of steps on the thread at https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=99105.

Good Luck,
Bill

 

[Tiramisu]

I've given 3 baths. First time my coop caught fire so my two hens that survived smelled like smoke really bad so I washed them to get rid of the smell and they weren't breathing well/raspy and I thought that might help

All we really had was dog shampoo, natural with aloe vera. Dried them off with a towel and blow dryer. The second time is because my australorp got egg on her and I was spraying their 'coop' out and then she got wet feed on her

My wyandotte was fine throughout the bathing process and stayed in one spot....my australorp wouldn't stop moving or trying to get out.

she also did not like when I turned the water on. But when wrapped in a towel and you rub/massage them a little they sometimes start to fall asleep

 

[gritsar]

I have never given a chicken a bath. Have done some spot cleaning on my rooster. Can't remember what for now. They keep themselves nice and clean with their numerous dust bath holes.