Okay, so it's -30 here with a wind chill making it -40. To keep all the birdies warm I put my duckies in with my hens. They don't mind, they've spent time together before. But when I was in the hen house making sure everyone had all their needs met, the ducks in their frenzy stood under the roost and hennie pooped on duckies back. Now he has hen poop under his wings! with no way to take a bath. Can anyone tell me if this will cause a problem for him other than smelling badly. Do I need to bring him in and give him a bath? That would be a challenge!
I have one hen that sleeps on a shelf, which happens to be directly under where her 4 siblings sleep on a roost. I guess she's at the bottom of the pecking order and for some reason isn't allowed on the roost anymore (or simply prefers to sleep where she does) Anyways, she sleeps directly under the line of fire of other birds poops. I have tried to move her but she goes right back. Never once however have I smelled or seen any poop on her. I guess they clean themselves well or something, I don't know.
its fine. you can just wipe off with tissue if your worried. dont sweat the small stuff. she may clean hershelf.
Thank you for the responses. Actually I was just back to the hen house and the duck looks clean already. All that worry for nothing I guess. I did give them a tiny tub of water and it looks kinda used so perhaps he got in and took a bath. I was just worried about the hen poop "burning" under the wings, or causing a bacterial infection. Mind you I wouldn't have let it get that far and would have bathed him if need be, but I think he's bathed himself. As poopy as ducks are, they are clean and take their hygiene very seriously, or so I've noticed anyway. This cold wave should last only another 24-48 hours and if it warms up to zero I'll put a bigger tub out for them so they can get their tail feathers wet.
you could always bring the duck inside and put him in the tub with some lukewarm water.... that'll clean him up real fast!
take him inside, run the shower water at a cool lukewarm and he will go to town. If you have a sprayer, he will love it! I set mine in there, and the spray is just out of reach....they waddle to it and actually squat down and then go to town. they LOVE it. Why would that be a challenge? Unless you have a pristine bathroom...or no running water...or a finicky family.... When mine were little I would use a dryer to dry them. No, they didn't like it until they realized it was warm....then they stood pretty still. You have to be careful of the heat, keep your hand under it and you can gauge the temp...
