Suggestions on how I 'bathe'/clean a disabled chicken please

[Alycea]

She sounds adorable. I agree a spa day and bum baths would be nice for her. I also think it would be OK to assist her in a dust bath at another time, when she’s completely dry. Just pick up handfuls of the dirt or whatever she’s bathing in, sprinkle it over her (ovoidibg her face, of course) and see if she seems to like it.

Thank you. That's nice to hear. I have wanted to give her a dust bath (as well), but wasn't sure if it was a good thing to do.

 

[JLB]

WYorp Rock, thank you for posting this (I realize it was a long time ago) question of how to help a disabled chicken that is unable to dustbathe. I have a sweet pullet who suddenly lost ability to scratch the soil with her legs. She can also no longer perch.(Vet suspects Marek's disease). Because she can't dust bathe, and because she can't perch (which means she sleeps on the coop floor) she gets a bit soiled with poop regularly. I had also wondered how I might assist her in dustbathing and otherwise keeping her clean.
My question is: how often should I clean her? Would once a week be enough to keep her healthy? We do cut off poopy feathers when we can. I haven't tried bathing her yet - she is somewhat docile, mostly because of her weak legs, so I imagine she won't fight me too much on it. Any advice from others on how often to dust or bathe her, please let me know. Thank you!

 

[triciayoung]

Hello all

I have taken on a disabled chicken. Long story short, she has an internal growth, golf ball size. Not an egg bound egg, not a tumour. It occurred 2 years ago (March), went away and came back (again in March) and has gone down, but not gone away. 2 Vets have no idea. Antibiotics did nothing. Only suggestion is it might be an allergy. Cutting out foods over time resulted in nothing, but the swelling did go down. Whether this is from food or just time, we don't know.

Anyway, the swollen area is between her legs, particularly off to one side, sort of under the right leg. She can't really walk as she can't get the leg passed the bulge. The leg is now stick backwards. She can shuffle in a back and forth motion that moves her in circles to get about. And she is surprisingly speedy when she wants to be.

Overall she is happy. Lots of purring, feathers in good state, comb a tad pale/pink. She is very cuddle, vocal, eats loads. She has lost most of the feathers under her right leg, where the swelling is, as the use of that leg rubs the feathers off.

First and foremost question is about bathing. She is not able dust bath herself. I would like to assist her in some way, but have no idea what is best. Washing her, particularly underneath with water or helping her to dust bathe in some way. If you have successfully bathed a chicken and can recommend what works, and they like, please do let me know.

Second, if anyone has ever had anything like this happen to a chicken, I would love to hear if their chicken got better, or if there is something you recommend we do.

PS. We don't know what type of breed she is. She is all black, small to medium size.

Good Morning: I have several disabled chickens. The one in my profile picture cannot walk, she has one leg that is at 90 degrees and one that is normal except that she also has a curly toe paralysis that was not corrected (I rescued her at 16-weeks, when it was too late to correct). She can kind of jump on the one leg. I have to feed her and give her water. She lives inside and I need to bathe her when she gets poop on her I use baby soap in a large shallow Tupperware rectangle container with the baby soap and warm water. I have tried taking her outside and put her in one of my gardening boxes that has loose dirt to see if she wanted to dust bath, but frankly, her one leg doesn't work at all, and the other she didn't try to use. I think because she is in the house, the need for a dust bath isn't as great - however, I know it is also mentally therapeutic for them.

 

[triciayoung]

Well shucks, didn't look at the date.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

WYorp Rock, thank you for posting this (I realize it was a long time ago) question of how to help a disabled chicken that is unable to dustbathe. I have a sweet pullet who suddenly lost ability to scratch the soil with her legs. She can also no longer perch.(Vet suspects Marek's disease). Because she can't dust bathe, and because she can't perch (which means she sleeps on the coop floor) she gets a bit soiled with poop regularly. I had also wondered how I might assist her in dustbathing and otherwise keeping her clean.
My question is: how often should I clean her? Would once a week be enough to keep her healthy? We do cut off poopy feathers when we can. I haven't tried bathing her yet - she is somewhat docile, mostly because of her weak legs, so I imagine she won't fight me too much on it. Any advice from others on how often to dust or bathe her, please let me know. Thank you!

@triciayoung while the Original date is from 2018, @JLB posed a question today asking for tips. I think you covered the question quite well. Another old thread being given new life/information

Good Morning: I have several disabled chickens. The one in my profile picture cannot walk, she has one leg that is at 90 degrees and one that is normal except that she also has a curly toe paralysis that was not corrected (I rescued her at 16-weeks, when it was too late to correct). She can kind of jump on the one leg. I have to feed her and give her water. She lives inside and I need to bathe her when she gets poop on her I use baby soap in a large shallow Tupperware rectangle container with the baby soap and warm water. I have tried taking her outside and put her in one of my gardening boxes that has loose dirt to see if she wanted to dust bath, but frankly, her one leg doesn't work at all, and the other she didn't try to use. I think because she is in the house, the need for a dust bath isn't as great - however, I know it is also mentally therapeutic for them.

Well shucks, didn't look at the date.