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.
