grooming show birds

[muddyhorse]

I was hoping some of the more experienced showers on here would share some of their grooming tips. I wanted to know what is legal and illegal to use on a show bird. for example in alpacas there are absolutely no grooming products used or you are DQ. on our show horses I practically spray paint them whit shapleys white on socks and black on legs and tail. some people at the show this weekend were using a shine spray would showsheen be OK? A gentlemen helped me put vet rx on may OEGBS comb made a big difference. what do you use on the legs? the winning orp feet and legs were so clean and soft looking It looked like he had never stepped in poo in his life. can you put clear polish on their nails ? any silkie grooming tips ? thanks

 

[Smoky73]

Show sheen is perfectly fine as is Pink Oil, which is to fluff a bird like a silkie or cochin. Show Sheen works best on regular birds like OEG and sleek close to the body featherers.
Any kind of oil or vet RX is fine to give the bird onto the comb and legs and wattles to make them appear redder or shinier.

Anything that alters the color or shape of the bird in any way, such as adding some form of red to make the wattles redder, or using a black sharpie on a white feathers or beaks (So forth), cutting off colors out of the tail, or using any kind of spray purchased which will add a color like you can get spray paint designed for livestock that makes them appear whiter as you said.

Using a bathing ajent on a bird to accentuate a color, like blueing on a white bird, to get rid of brassiness is acceptable.

In the long run, there is a fine line to what you can use. Use what you must at home, but once you bring the bird to the showroom, you get caught, you get DQ'd.

I baby powder white sikies butts to keep the poo from sticking and have regularly used vet rx on legs and combs, show sheen on birds, Pink Oil on silkies. Hairspray would be a nono, as the judge would be able to feel it. I know someone who used to raise frizzles and I had seen her use a curling iron on her birds once or twice the day before the show.

 

[Bat Cave Silkies]

Smoky~~the "Pink Oil"....what is it and where can you buy it??

Thanks

 

[Celtic Hill]

Quote:
OMG that is awesome! haha, i come from the horse world where you do everything and anything to make your horse win...although i would never do that to a chicken, but the thought of someone doing that is awesome! haha


So showseen is okay to use on birds at shows?

 

[aveca]

Some of the old timers used to use a silk rag to wiipe or polish the birds befor penning..for some reason it really shines a feather only go with the feather not against it..I used to show horses too and we body clipped several days to weeks depending on the color of the horse greys you could do a couple days befor the show, the halter horses got complete body clips, the saddle horses had blanket clips.. darker colors needed a little time to grow out to perfect, we used lazer sheen, show sheen, everything out there, leg whitners.The judges were cool with it because you all know how horses are, just happy getting themselves as messy as possible.we even used sand paper to smooth the hoof several weeks befor show and covered it with either clear polish or blk depending on hoof color, we even had a horse who had a hoof that was 1/2 blk and 1/2 white so clear on one siade drk on the other..I prefered the clear all the way around..the feet looked like glass when we were done with those horses, the owners loved it.sometimes it would take several sessions with the sand paper to get it right..and conditining treatments until the final polish....but a lot of those products also contain silicones so I dont use too much on chickens but a tiny bit probably wouldnt hurt. By they time we clipped,bathed braided hunters and dressage horses we were exhaussted the dressage horses had the white tape in mains , a lot of the hunter jumpers liked the pinwheel in thier horses tail..By the time we got finished body clipping the last horse , the first one was back for his clipping....I like the sounds of this pink oil..But in all my travels have never seen it..

 

[Smoky73]

Pink Oil is used for livestock for showing. I always buy it at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, but, I think I have seen it at my feed store before.

I use the show sheen in conjunction with the silk rag, but I rarely show other breeds anymore except Silkies.

 

[muddyhorse]

thanks for the tips. do you tape up your crests ? I meet a silkie breeder at the show and she said she keeps the crest taped all of the time, she uses painters tape. and how young should you start doing this. this little girl is 12 weeks, I want to keep the crest nice but I don't want to compromise its growth either.

 

[Smoky73]

I only tape up crests prior to a show. I have never done it long term, I am afraid it would screw up how it grows back in if it was taped constantly.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I don't tape up crests.

Last show I bathed 2 days before the show. Worked out perfectly. Dried them about 50% with a hairdryer then put them on deep shavings. At coop in I used olive oil and used a qtip to apply it to their combs and beaks, worked great.

I clipped nails and filed beaks the day before I bathed them. I bathed them using a cat flea and tick shampoo. Then rinsed it all out and did a final rinse with liquid glycerine in the water.

 

[muddyhorse]

the nasco catalog has the pink oil spray.