Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[TOMTE]

Do it at night with a read headlamp.
Use round ended scissors.

Can I wash their butts in the washtub in the basement during the day or would it be better to do that at night too? Should I use any soap? Can I towel dry or do I have to use a blow dryer? I'll use a headlamp to check for mites and lice while I'm washing them up too, might as well (but I don't think they have any).

 

[ValerieJ]

That's awesome

We all have different ways of raising our chooks, there's no wrong way. I would love to have a self sustaining tribe of chooks someday and I know that means as little involvement as possible with the babies. But knowing me I'll probably still try to be friends with them

The divider in the coop is hardware cloth, so they grow up seeing all the bigs the whole time. Integration goes really well.

 

[ValerieJ]

I love all 3. I also brought home a piece of meatloaf from work for my dinner. As usual our 2 big pans sold out. It's ok though, my boss told me as soon as I walked in to stop waiting to see if there would be any leftover at the end of the night. I got my favorite piece, a corner. Today I will fix myself a burger or a salad. I will not touch chicken and dumplings due to childhood truama from my Uncle and dad. Daddy had over 30 hens and my uncle went out and killed my personal pet hen who was at the time around 8 years old and the only dominique hen on the place for chicken and dumplings for dinner. It was not daddy's fault, he told him not to touch my hen but my uncle was a jerk and got the friendliest and easiest to catch.

What a terrible experience!!!! What is wrong with people??!!

 

[RoyalChick]

Can I wash their butts in the washtub in the basement during the day or would it be better to do that at night too? Should I use any soap? Can I towel dry or do I have to use a blow dryer? I'll use a headlamp to check for mites and lice while I'm washing them up too, might as well (but I don't think they have any).

Oh yes, you can wash them in the day. All depends on how tame your chickens are. Mine don't like being handled so it is a struggle in the day.
I don't normally wash them for poopy butt - I find a trim faster and less messy.
I think the recommendation is to use a blow dryer, and many chickens apparently like that. I have never tried it because I would not wash them when it was cold. Only time I have washed any chicken of mine was during a heat wave and I thought she would be happier wet so I just let her 'air dry'.

 

[TOMTE]

Oh yes, you can wash them in the day. All depends on how tame your chickens are. Mine don't like being handled so it is a struggle in the day.
I don't normally wash them for poopy butt - I find a trim faster and less messy.
I think the recommendation is to use a blow dryer, and many chickens apparently like that. I have never tried it because I would not wash them when it was cold. Only time I have washed any chicken of mine was during a heat wave and I thought she would be happier wet so I just let her 'air dry'.

Okay, I'll probably just trim first. If anybody still needs a wash after then I'll do that. I'd rather not deal with wet poopy butts if I don't have to

I'll try a trim on Magrat first because she's the poopiest butt and the calmest while being handled.

 

[TOMTE]

(Then if it seems like they won't cooperate during the day, I'll trim tonight)

 

[ValerieJ]

Can I wash their butts in the washtub in the basement during the day or would it be better to do that at night too? Should I use any soap? Can I towel dry or do I have to use a blow dryer? I'll use a headlamp to check for mites and lice while I'm washing them up too, might as well (but I don't think they have any).

I've washed a couple birds in a wash basin. I both towel dried and used the blow dryer. Since it is winter, I would make sure they are very dry before going back out. I used Dawn for washing them. A little goes a long way. BTW, they use Dawn to clean and save birds that have been caught up in oil spills. It's perfectly safe. Keep it away from their face/eyes, of course.

 

[knoturavggrl]

Oh yes, you can wash them in the day. All depends on how tame your chickens are. Mine don't like being handled so it is a struggle in the day.
I don't normally wash them for poopy butt - I find a trim faster and less messy.
I think the recommendation is to use a blow dryer, and many chickens apparently like that. I have never tried it because I would not wash them when it was cold. Only time I have washed any chicken of mine was during a heat wave and I thought she would be happier wet so I just let her 'air dry'.

I am like you RC, I am a chicken watcher vs handling them a ton. Trimming is an excellent option and I agree it works very well most things.

If you must wash them here is my personal experience:

When my second Jubilee took to roosting under the rest of the flock as juvenile, I had no choice but bring him in for a bath .

I thought it would be a real struggle but separated from the flock honestly it went way better than I feared. It was chilly out at the time so I did in fact blow dry him. I swear he acted like it was spa day! He didn’t even try to move away and actually laid down sprawling out like they do in the sun.

@TOMTE it may go considerably better than you expect if you do need to bathe and blow-dry. I used dawn worked like a charm.

 

[notabitail]

I got a mixed bundle of chicks, it could have been any of the breeds they offered. I ordered 10 and they sent 13.

Shipping went smoothly and they communicated very well. Every chick made it safely to Ohio.

All were straight run but I got lucky and ended with only 3 boys. I kept one he was Copper Maran but unfortunately he became quite aggressive after one of the hens got taken by a hawk. I really do think this is why he got so aggressive protective but he was also only a yr old at the time so perhaps it was also hormones. Because I had young children and the high level of aggression I did have to rehome him with the disclaimer about his behavior. He was stunning though.

I didn’t lose one bird to illness and they all laid well. I ended up with 3 2nd gen Olive eggers they call Moss Eggers, 2 Azure eggers, 1 Silverudds Blue, 2 Welsummers, 2 copper Marans, and 1 Ameraucana.
It was a lovely mix of colors in the basket.

I think Alchemist Farms are good breeders and try hard to do well by their customers and their birds.

That's good to know. Thanks.

 

[TOMTE]

Just realized we don't have any safety scissors and I don't trust myself to not accidentally poke my girls with regular scissors

Grandma is planning on making a trip to the dollar store soon, she said she'll pick up a pair then.

Now I'm debating on whether I want to wait to trim, or wash them for now. Some of their booties are really nasty