Shampoo for chickens

[getaclue]

BTW, shampoo is not the best option for 2 reasons. 1. Shampoo is not designed to effectively clean the type of soil you're dealing with. 2. A multitude of ingredients are added to shampoo to ensure it does not strip the hair too much of the natural oils, to balance pH, to add body, etc. All the extra ingredients, even when thoroughly rinsed, leave residues that dull the sheen on feathers somewhat. I don't get the other colors, or fragrances of Dawn, just the original Blue. It's the one they used in the commercial about cleaning the oil off the ducks, and seals caught in the Alaskan oil spill.

 

[Shadrach]

You have to remember too that your article is referring to the standard feathered chicken. Because silkies lack the barbs that hold the feather together, they are not water proof and the dust does not preen out of them as well. We have bred them to be different so they require human intervention to keep them clean and healthy.

But would I be right in assuming Silkies still don't have sweat glands and therefor still have an oil based conditioning system?

 

[getaclue]

All chickens have an oil based conditioning system. Preening gland....

 

[Shadrach]

All chickens have an oil based conditioning system. Preening gland....

Well that's what I thought.

 

[FishMtFarm]

But would I be right in assuming Silkies still don't have sweat glands and therefor still have an oil based conditioning system?

Yes but because of these human selected characteristics, it has caused issues with the oil based conditioning. It weighs the fluff and mats it, and therefore they actually over heat in extreme temps. I have lost silkies from heat but not regular feathered birds. When bathed, it fluffs the feathers so the heat trapped by the body can escape. Hold an I bathed silkie in one hand and a freshly bathed in the other and you can feel the heat difference.

 

[Shadrach]

I know next to nothing about Silkies.
Let me make sure I've understood this properly. You are telling me that due to human breeding management Silkies are no longer able to keep themselves clean without the aid of humans and baths in water is the way it's done.

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

I have never personally used the horse whitening shampoo but I do know couple of other people with Silkies that have. As long as it's kept out of the birds eyes/mouth etc it should be fine. Next time you wash,try it on a small patch such as the legs/foot feathers since they tend to get the dirtiest. Like humans, animals can have allergies to certain ingredients. It's rare but always best to test it on a small part first.

Put the shampoo on an old toothbrush and brush its down into the feathers, following the way they flow.

I breed my Silkies for showing but I generally just do it for fun. I'd never go to the extent of killing my birds if they don't win. Although, there is some super serious guys out there that will. That's their own choice and if they want to do that, they can.

For my white coloured birds I use a whitening shampoo but for the other colours I don't. The process is the same just without the whitening!

I wash all my Silkies in the bath one at a time with a shower hose. I don't have enough buckets do that other method

Firstly I get my Chicken. Put her in a bath that's has some whitening shampoo squirted in and is filled to around the top of her legs.

I use a jug to get the water over her, using non soapy water over her crest.

Once she's wet through. I put whitening shampoo on her back and on the toothbrush and brush it onto her, following the flow of the feathers. I do this on all the body except the head.

Then rise off, and repeat with baby shampoo! Do the same with the toothbrush, of course be gentle. Don't scrub the feathers. I clean the crest with the baby shampoo.

Then wash this all off again with the hose, empty the bath then too and make sure all soap is rinsed away.

Then I use green swarfega on my Silkies legs and leg feathers. It brings them up lovely and gives them a shiny rubbery look! I also pop this onto a toothbrush and brush it down the legs, toes, leg feathers and nails. Then I fully wash off and give another rise.

I then go over their face with a cotton bud removing any dirt around her beak etc. I also add a very tiny amount of petroleum jelly to combs/wattles and such before drying.

I then gently squeeze any excess water off and put her in a towel and then off it is for a blow dry. She loves that part the most and relaxes so much.

Once dry, I use a very soft baby brush and brush the feathers the way they should be. Then voila, you have one clean Silkie Chicken.

With silkies, is advise washing the day before the show. They aren't like other birds that require oils to get back onto their feathers.

What I use and what I end up with:

I know next to nothing about Silkies.
Let me make sure I've understood this properly. You are telling me that due to human breeding management Silkies are no longer able to keep themselves clean without the aid of humans and baths in water is the way it's done.

That's pretty much correct yes, but it also depends on how they are housed and what you are doing with them.

Mine are free range but housed in a coop before I show them, they get filthy. Their feathers have very little to no waterproofing and they just pick up all sorts of muck and dirt. Mine have tried to dust bath but it doesn't work, it just bounces off their fluffy feathers or gets stuck in them.

They are also unable to clean their crests. When mine are out free ranging, their crests can get covered in dirt and it won't come off unless i wash them. Their poop is also a nice one to get stuck in their feathers...

I don't see much of a need to wash hard feathered birds unless showing them, mine are all perfectly capable of cleaning themselves. However, Silkies have been bred for this fancy fur like feathering and in a way, it has to be treated like fur.

 

[Shadrach]

That's pretty much correct yes,

If this is true it's about the sickest and saddest thing I've read here on BYC and I've read some seriously sad stuff.

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

If this is true it's about the sickest and saddest thing I've read here on BYC and I've read some seriously sad stuff.

I know what you mean, I'd love for my chickens to be able to be kept clean themselves. Washing them is a chore at times but if I didn't, they'd end up getting matted together.

Humans have messed around with all creatures to get traits they like best or find more desirable but sometimes it makes the animal itself worse off. Silkies are more susceptible to mites due to them not being able to dust bath as well. Also scaly leg is a big one to watch for with them due to the feathered feet. However, that's also something that can badly effect hard feathered birds that have excessive foot feathering.

Silkies are also much more susceptible to dieases/illness like Marek's disease. They've pretty much been bred to be a delicacy to eat, or a designer chicken. They do have positives though, not all is bad but like I say, it all comes down to how you are keeping them and what your intentions are.

 

[FishMtFarm]

If this is true it's about the sickest and saddest thing I've read here on BYC and I've read some seriously sad stuff.

Yep, it sure is. Humans playing god is no good. I loved my silkies and kept the coop and runs super clean but they were a lot of work and are completely defenseless to predators.