is it safe to bathe a chicken?

[castrbl]

my 7 week old got some poop on her feathers. i tried cleaning her up a bit with a cloth but it still stinks. would a small bath be okay? or will a dust bath be able to fix it?

 

[Shadrach]

my 7 week old got some poop on her feathers. i tried cleaning her up a bit with a cloth but it still stinks. would a small bath be okay? or will a dust bath be able to fix it?

Hello castrbl.
It's better not to bath chicks in water.
You could wait for it to dry and gently pick the poop off; that's what I do with the chicks here.
You could part fill a saucer with water and soak her bum in it and gently encourage the poop off with a cloth.
The thing is at 7 weeks your chick doesn't have proper feathers I imagine and the fluff on chicks tend to hold water. It's not so much the getting them wet that's a problem, it's getting them dry after. You cant really rub and hairdryers are very stressful for for chickens.

 

[karissapaul]

as long as the water is warm and make sure you don't get them too wet. and try to dry them after, although i have no idea how you would do that.

 

[apryl29]

Hello castrbl.
It's better not to bath chicks in water.
You could wait for it to dry and gently pick the poop off; that's what I do with the chicks here.
You could part fill a saucer with water and soak her bum in it and gently encourage the poop off with a cloth.
The thing is at 7 weeks your chick doesn't have proper feathers I imagine and the fluff on chicks tend to hold water. It's not so much the getting them wet that's a problem, it's getting them dry after. You cant really rub and hairdryers are very stressful for for chickens.

x2
I had a chick w/ pasty butt and did exactly this:
"You could part fill a saucer with water and soak her bum in it and gently encourage the poop off with a cloth."

 

[karissapaul]

I had a chick w/ pasty butt and did exactly this:
"You could part fill a saucer with water and soak her bum in it and gently encourage the poop off with a cloth.

and you should add some Vaseline so that the poop does not stick again.

 

[cassie]

my 7 week old got some poop on her feathers. i tried cleaning her up a bit with a cloth but it still stinks. would a small bath be okay? or will a dust bath be able to fix it?

Yes you can bathe your chicken. People who show regularly bathe their show birds. Just use a gentle shampoo, warm, not hot water, and rinse well. Use a blow dryer on the low setting to dry the bird. Just make sure it doesn't get chilled.

 

[Shadrach]

If chickens liked bathing in water I would have thought they would be able to swim.
Chickens, they come with a label....Dry Clean.

 

[cassie]

If chickens liked bathing in water I would have thought they would be able to swim.
Chickens, they come with a label....Dry Clean.

My small nephew doesn't like getting a bath either. However, sometimes a bath is necessary, like it or not.

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

I have bathed a 4 week old chicken before with no complications! Do it in a towel-lined sink filled with warm water. I used non toxic, all natural Dr. Broners Castile soap.
After the bath I blow dry on the lowest setting (heat and power) then I will towel dry. When she was four weeks I did the towel drying near a heater so she won’t get too cold. Good luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes you can bathe your chicken. People who show regularly bathe their show birds. Just use a gentle shampoo, warm, not hot water, and rinse well. Use a blow dryer on the low setting to dry the bird. Just make sure it doesn't get chilled.

X2

By 7 weeks that chick should be fully feathered. Mine will go out in the rain on a warm day and get soaked, they are fine. But you are not giving that chick that choice to decide if it is warm enough or not so it is your job to keep it from chilling. Use warm water and dry it with a hair drier or keep it someplace warm until it dries. Don't overheat it though.

Animal rescuers wash various birds using Dawn dish washing soap. I've seen people that wash their birds for show say they use Dawn. I'd think most shampoos would work but I'd lean toward a baby shampoo like Johnson's as it should be gentle and all that oil in it should give the bird a nice luster.

Chickens naturally clean themselves by taking a dust bath. It's amazing how clean they can be after fluffing dust all through their feathers. Not sure how well that will get rid of smell though.