Do you give your chickens a bath?

[catwalk]

I just rescued a half dozen battery hens, and I thought they could benifit from a bath. Did two of them last night. They did really well, actually. I didn't get them very clean, but I think their feathers are stained beyond cleaning, and they seem to be a lot calmer for the experience.

 

[nancy1zak]

Thx for all the help! I think I will wait for a hot day so I can do it outside. It is mostly their feathered feet that are dirty looking. I think I will try with their feet first and see what they think before I get them totally wet.

 

[Mrs. Green Thumbs]

Iv bathed my girls and 4 out of 5 recommend it! lol 4 of my girls literally laid down and I swear if they could have they would have smiled. Warm water, Johnsons & johnsons baby soap, and patience. At first they all panicked a tiny bit but after a while they settled in and just relaxed (and looked RIDICULOUS!) The drying took forever! And I would suggest waiting for a hot day to do any chicken washing. My girls feather's got stiff and clumpy kinda so needed a bit of rubbing (gently) to get them to be fuzzy and fluffy again but all in all they were happy with the experience.

 

[hipeatall]

Quote:
Oh, my! I know just the movie you are referring to... we watched it at our 4H holiday party - "The Natural History of the Chicken". It is a documentary style movie done with a real sense of humor that I enjoyed.
Here is a link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkxO91TLKVg
Enjoy

 

[hipeatall]

Here is the one that has her washing her "soul mate" chicken... oh my

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Haha good to know the movies a good one! I just ordered it from Netflix... before I read this thread... LoL... thought it would be a fun film.

It should be here soon.

 

[Dingleberry]

My Dh and I laughed at that documemtary. We have dogs as indoor pets so the Idea of a chicken as a indoor pet was funny.

I may try cleaning mine Outside later this summer though.

 

[SmartyChick]

I try to avoid giving my chickens baths and sometimes do half baths (only their back side gets washed) just to scrub poopy butts, some chickens just seem to have better hygiene than others.

My BOs are sometimes so bad I have to cut the feathers around their vents because the poo is caked into a solid mass.

 

[Neil Grassbaugh]

Wash chickens?????

Ever been to a chicken show????


As the eminet poultry judge Troy LaRoche once answered the question- "Do you have to bath a show chicken?"

"Only if you are interested in winning."

Something that works pretty well- put them out in a nice warm rain and let it do the job. An all night rain with a nice warm breezy next day will do a lot for them.

One day we washed 48 White Leghorns (1/2 B - 1/2 LF) and 12 White Runner Ducks for the Ohio State fair.

And if your chicken gets crazy while being washed you are not doing it correctly.

 

[SuperChiks]

Oh Thank God! I thought I was nuts. I have some feathered foot chicks ready to go outside and they stink! I told my husband - I'm giving them a bath.