how to wash a dirty silkie?

[frizzleman74]

i just purchased a white silkie pair from a local fair and there is poop residue in their feathers so some of their feather (fluff) are stained brownish. What should i do, they look mangy right now and on the rooster the crest feathers are stained brown and are clumpy from poop too. Should i give them a bath with water and then blow dry? If that can anyone give me a step by step so i dont hurt them...or will they take care of it when they take a dust bath? Thanks

 

[chicmom]

You could use baby shampoo, because it's gentle and won't hurt their eyes, since you need to clean the crest on one of them. I would just shampoo them a tub of warm water, and then rinse them off with some clean warm water.

Wash them like you would your own hair, just rubbing the shampoo through the feathers gently....

Wrap them in a towel, and you could blow them dry.

 

[CYGChickies]

I was wondering this too. I have 10 silkies--5 hatchery and 5 not. There's two blue, two splash and one blue or black not sure. Then my "breeder" silkies are 2 partridge, 2 white and a buff so I have a lot of light colored ones and I plan to take at least one to the fair coming up. They're just moving outside but their own dust is enough to have them less than sparkling. If I take a white or splash I will probably have to wash them to make them look nice. It's good to know that it's safe to use baby shampoo.

CYG

 

[Imp]

Here's a fun thread about bathing Silkies

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=99105

Imp- you know pictures will be required.

 

[dianaross77]

I just recently bathed 2 for the first time. They had mites!

They were both tipping over from trying to fall asleep in the sink during the bath. It wasn't that hard I did both of them at the same time. After they napped for a while wrapped in a towel, I put them on the bathroom counter with a small space heater blowing on them. They sat there and preened while they dried. Saved me the trouble of standing there holding a blowdryer. I didn't crate them or anything. I wanted them to be able to move away if they got too hot. For a regular bath (not flea shampoo) I would use baby shampoo. I would also use a little conditioner or oil sheen (hair oil in a spray can available in ethnic hair section of just about any store) to help replace some of the oil lost from the shampoo.

 

[frizzleman74]

thanks you! is there any specific product that i can use thats harmless to make the silkies whiter from dirt stains?..

 

[zookeeper15133]

When I bathed my white silkies, I used Midnight White dog shampoo. It is made to take the stains out of white dogs. It is also tearless. Whatever brand of dog shampoo for white dogs (it will be blue) you get, make sure it is tearless. I thin mine is a smaller bottle. About 1 oz of shampoo to 4 oz of water in a squirt bottle.

I have a roo whose hackles were very yellow. With 1 wash it took most of it out. Do the spots with the stains first.The day I washed them, I did 29 chickens in a couple hours, I also did a permethan dip.

I started in the late morning after it warmed up. I had 4 - 5 gallon buckets. A lawn chair and an empty plastic tote for a table. Wear your swim suit.

1. Water and a little shampoo to wet them down.
2 &3. Water for rinse.
4. Dip. Permethian will take care of lice, mites and scaly leg.

I would move bucket 3 to bucket 2 when it got dirty, then refill bucket 3. My hose laying in the sun warmed the water enough to refill it.

With my left hand, I grabbed the chickens by their legs. Held their wings with my right hand and plunged them into the water feet first. Used my right hand to work through their feathers to get them wet to the skin. And splash water on top of their head.

Take them out and set them on the table, add shampoo. Do the stains first. Work through. The muddy poof may take some working through, just keep rubbing between your fingers and adding water as needed.

Rinse in #2 bucket the same way you wetted them in the #1 bucket. Repeat in #3 bucket.

I have 9 white silkies. While I was trying to catch the last 2, I had trouble figuring out who I needed, because most of them were dry already. I ended up smelling them!

Good luck!

 

[frizzleman74]

thank you so much! but how do you shampoo without breaking their primary and secondary wing feathers, do you just rub gently?

 

[zookeeper15133]

thank you so much! but how do you shampoo without breaking their primary and secondary wing feathers, do you just rub gently?

Yes, they are stronger than you think. If you can let the shampoo on for 5 to 10 minutes, it whitens better.

Also if they have a place they like to dust bathe, cover it til they are dry.​