Washing a white chicken for show? What am I doing wrong???

[Rare Feathers Farm]

I'm getting ready for my first-ever show and one of the birds I'm bringing is a white houdan bantam...she's not very clean, either. LOL Any tips on washing her? How about whitening her slightly stained feathers? Help!

Thanks!

 

[RooptyDoo]

http://www.harvestbreezefarm.com/PreparingforShow.html

 

[CrestedHorizonPoultry]

Cowboy Magic green out. LOVE IT!! I have white Polish and Silkies I show. I spray them down with it real good with it, let them sit for about 5 minutes then rince. If there are really bad stains I do it all over again. Good luck!!

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Thank you guys! I wonder if my feed store has the Cowboy Magic stuff? Thank you again!

 

[CrestedHorizonPoultry]

If your feed store doesn't have it, you can get it online.

 

[Elite Silkies]

How do you wash a Silkies face? I am afraid of getting water in their ears or nostrils. Or burning their eyes.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I've heard laundry bluing works well too. People use it on poodles for showing. Haven't tried it on chickens though.

 

[Crunchie]

I haven't had any luck with the cowboy magic stuff. It just seems to spread stains on my birds. Maybe I just have unusually funky birds.

I use tide with bleach alternative to wash them. I wet the bird, then use a very soft toothbrush to gently work the Tide into the feathers, going with the direction of the feather (& using the brush to gently work out any set-in funk in individual feathers). I let it sit on them for a few minutes, then rinse & repeat, if necessary. Works better than anything else I've tried. I've not tried bluing, however, but I have heard that that works really well, too. You just have to be careful not to use to much, or else you end up with a blue bird!

To wash crests on my Polish, I wrap the body of the bird in a towel so I can then use one hand to hold the bird's body, freeing up my other hand to do the washing (usually over a bucket in my kitchen sink so that I have running water to rinse with.

shhhh, don't tell my husband!). I then hold the bird on its back, so its head is upside down, to wet & rinse. This way I don't get soap and/or water in the bird's eyes or nostrils.

 

[farmgirlie1031]

Quote:
Just make sure you don't use too much or you risk turning the bird a shade of blue/purple. I used to use it when we showed dogs. They also have a purple liquid just for animals but I can't think of the name of it right now. It works great. I'll try to think of the name and update.

 

[Soccer Mom]

Tide with bleach alternative. Just put a quarter of a cup in a gallon of warm water. Let the bird sit in water for a minute and stroke the detergent in the same direction as the feathers. Let the detergent sit for five minutes. I use this time clean the feet good with a toothbrush, trim any nails or the beak, etc... This sitting time is really important. You have to let the detergent do its job.

Rinse the bird twice. First, rinse in a bucket of warm water with a splash of wite vinegar added to it. It gets all the detergent off the bird and makes them super clean.

Then a final rinse in just pure water. Towel off and dry well with the blow dryer.

This really works.