How much of a chill is too much? (After Bathing)

[Poulets De Cajun]

Ok... I'm in preparations for my show on Saturday.

I've got one bird bathed and partially dry. I bathed it, wrapped it in a towel for about 5 minutes and then blew it partially dry with a professional canister dryer like you find at the dog groomers. Then I went back with a hand held hair dryer and got the harder areas (under the wings, vent area, abdomen....

The bird is in the back bedroom in a wire cage with a towel on the floor. Its only 75 in the house, which means its about 85 in the back bedroom. I've closed the vents in that room because of the incubator, and it stays pretty warm

Now I know that near the skin the bird is still damp... but how much of a chill is too much? It does have a very *SLIGHT* shiver every now and again, but nothing serious. With it being about 85 in that room, it would be like a chicken getting caught in the rain.

Should I heat it up more back there, or am I running a higher risk of it getting sick?

 

[d.k]

* A chicken's normal (dry) body temp (I finally found out) is about 107 degrees. So, at 85 and damp she may (definitely) be feeling the chill. Maybe a lamp on her might help??? Doubt you'll be wanting to heat the entire bedroom too much.

 

[dlhunicorn]

keep the bird in a cardboard box (I also blow dry in one) on a towel till completely dry... no drafts that way.

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

id put a heat lamp on the bird...about 3 feet or so above it and shell be fine...leave it for like 8 hours or until dry

 

[Judy]

In humans, shivering is a warning sign of impending hypothermia. I would bet a lot of money that no one has ever studied shivering in chickens.

Bathing a chicken and leaving it less than dry is not like a chicken getting caught in the rain. Bathing wets the skin and the underneath feathers/down/whatever it is. Chickens go out in the rain but don't necessarily get wet underneath the outer feathers. They go under shelter if the rain is heavy. As far as I know, in nature, chickens never bathe in water.

Though I do recall a post here where a chicken was swimming in a pond....

 

[BorderKelpie]

My parrots always shiver after a bath - it's normal for them. I was extremly concerned the first time I saw it, but since did research and found out that it's their way of keeping their body temp up after a bath. I don't guess it bothers them since they still play, eat, scream, whatever while shivering. Maybe that's what your chicken is doing. I put a ceramic heat emittor over part of the cage after a bath and give them the choice of whether or not to stand under it. None of them do.