Showing BBW Turkeys for 4H

[HamKristin]

Hello!

My daughter has decided to show turkeys this year for our county fair 4h project. We are brand new to poultry and we have 8 BBW turkeys. Does anyone have any advice on how to prepare the turkeys for show as far as what shampoo to use to make them whiter and remove stains? We have them on pasture and they have some dirt on their chests. Any tips and tricks would be appreciated!

 

[R2elk]

@Bantambird

 

[Bantambird]

bluing is the shampoo to use for brightening whites, both fur, hair, and feathers. We end up using a dog shampoo with permethrin to clear out lice and keep them off for a little while, a lot of shows will reject you for lice. I follow that up with some permethrin based dust or spray once a week to keep off the lice for show. Bathing a bbw might be challenging given their size, but I usually bathe using the three tub setup, where you make a tub with the shampoo, a tub with a rinse containing vinegar, and a clean water rinse at the end. If you cant lift them, you might have to use a garden hose (if it is hot enough outside and you have a nice grassy place) or in the bathtub if you have a handheld shower sprayer. When it does come time to dry off, towel dry in the direction of the feathers only, or gently squeeze without rubbing. You don't want to break the feathers or mess up their feather cuticles beyond repair. If you have a blow dryer, that works really well to get them nice and fluffy. be sure to set it on the warm, not the hot, setting. There is a good chance you will get anxiety poops during bathing, so watch out for those, or cecal poops. During show day, giving those feet a cleaning with a toothbrush, a spray bottle, and a magic eraser can clean up the inevitable poop that gets on them in the show pens. You can give them a little rub of baby oil after cleaning their feet. A silk cloth will shine up the feathers on show day.
good luck on show day!

 

[HamKristin]

bluing is the shampoo to use for brightening whites, both fur, hair, and feathers. We end up using a dog shampoo with permethrin to clear out lice and keep them off for a little while, a lot of shows will reject you for lice. I follow that up with some permethrin based dust or spray once a week to keep off the lice for show. Bathing a bbw might be challenging given their size, but I usually bathe using the three tub setup, where you make a tub with the shampoo, a tub with a rinse containing vinegar, and a clean water rinse at the end. If you cant lift them, you might have to use a garden hose (if it is hot enough outside and you have a nice grassy place) or in the bathtub if you have a handheld shower sprayer. When it does come time to dry off, towel dry in the direction of the feathers only, or gently squeeze without rubbing. You don't want to break the feathers or mess up their feather cuticles beyond repair. If you have a blow dryer, that works really well to get them nice and fluffy. be sure to set it on the warm, not the hot, setting. There is a good chance you will get anxiety poops during bathing, so watch out for those, or cecal poops. During show day, giving those feet a cleaning with a toothbrush, a spray bottle, and a magic eraser can clean up the inevitable poop that gets on them in the show pens. You can give them a little rub of baby oil after cleaning their feet. A silk cloth will shine up the feathers on show day.
good luck on show day!

bluing is the shampoo to use for brightening whites, both fur, hair, and feathers. We end up using a dog shampoo with permethrin to clear out lice and keep them off for a little while, a lot of shows will reject you for lice. I follow that up with some permethrin based dust or spray once a week to keep off the lice for show. Bathing a bbw might be challenging given their size, but I usually bathe using the three tub setup, where you make a tub with the shampoo, a tub with a rinse containing vinegar, and a clean water rinse at the end. If you cant lift them, you might have to use a garden hose (if it is hot enough outside and you have a nice grassy place) or in the bathtub if you have a handheld shower sprayer. When it does come time to dry off, towel dry in the direction of the feathers only, or gently squeeze without rubbing. You don't want to break the feathers or mess up their feather cuticles beyond repair. If you have a blow dryer, that works really well to get them nice and fluffy. be sure to set it on the warm, not the hot, setting. There is a good chance you will get anxiety poops during bathing, so watch out for those, or cecal poops. During show day, giving those feet a cleaning with a toothbrush, a spray bottle, and a magic eraser can clean up the inevitable poop that gets on them in the show pens. You can give them a little rub of baby oil after cleaning their feet. A silk cloth will shine up the feathers on show day.
good luck on show day!

Thank you SO much! Any particular brand or kind of bluing shampoo? Never used this before...

 

[Bantambird]

I don't have any particular brand, I usually borrowed some from the vet clinic when they had a small grooming station. There isn't a huge variety of selection where I live so I just made sure it was animal safe. Old women also buy bluing to prevent yellowing of their silver hair, or white dogs or cats have bluing shampoo, or horses. Avoiding lots of perfums is always my thing.

 

[Bantambird]

also, only use a little of bluing, if you use too much you might turn your white animal blue. just a little bit, to remove yellowing and brighten white.