Hen with chicks has poopy bottom

[RedCoopOnWheels]

Our little buff cochin bantam hen hatched her first brood of chicks 2 weeks ago. She is a very good mama, but her bottom has lots of caked on poop on it from sitting in the nest for so long.

Normally we would just give her a bath, but we don't want the chicks to get wet from her feathers. We cut off the worst pieces, but some of it is stuck to her skin. We tried a washcloth with warm water but that didn't work.

What should we do?

Thank you!

PS this is our first post

!!

 

[000]

Put the chicks on a towel under a heat lamp in a cage. Clean the box and give the mom a bath. Use a hair drier and blow dry the mom on low heat. I have have done it lots of times. When the mom is dry then just put them all back.

 

[RedCoopOnWheels]

Thank you. We will try this.