How do you keep your birds clean for a show/after a bath???

[mandelaykay]

This weekend is my first show... I am going to wash my guys today but I they are free range and we got a ton of rain last night and I do not want them to get all dirty. Their coop (where they temp sleep until the new one is complete) is much too small to keep them in during the day. What should I do? I have a pen I could put in the yard on the grass to keep them from getting in the dirt.

 

[mandelaykay]

bump

 

[sjarvis00]

Quote:
We use smaller conditioning pens,(24x24x30 tall) with a perch and plenty of pine shavings. You will need to coop the birds with only one per pen, keep deep little and clean daily you will still have some touch ups to do especially feet, legs, and head and watch the feathers closely catch stains as quick as possible if you get any.
Wish you luck..

 

[Cochin378]

I have done shows many times. If you have a white bird you can dust it with corn starch when it dries and that repels the dirt pretty well. Also I would keep the birds in cages with newspaper on the bottom of them to prevent them from getting dirty. If you have any more questions you can pm me. My show is next week Tuesday at the 4H fair.

 

[wdc1952]

After washing and rinsing and then wrapping each bird in a towel, I will place each one into a single cage with lots of clean pine shavings. I leave the towel wrapped around the bird for maybe 5-10 minutes. As far as the smooth feathered birds I allow them to air dry and away from any drafts. As fars as Silkies I will go the extra step and blow dry them to aid in fluffing them up.
At the time of washing I trim their beaks and their toenails.

Good luck on show day