Couple things you could try. However, if the white feathers are stained, no amount of scrubbing or soaking will get the completely white.
I raise White Cochins in large and bantam and use the following washing methods.
I use 5 gallon buckets normally unless I am washing a Large male (they don't fit in the buckets) so all the measurements are based on 5 gallon buckets.
Bucket 1 - 2/3 full of warm water - add 1 capful of liquid bluing and 1 or 2 ounces of Adams flea/tick shampoo or some other mild soap (you can also use the shampoos for white horses or dogs). I like the Adams because it will kill any bugs if they happen to have mites or lice. If you only want to use soap in the 1st bucket that's fine, and can then use the bluing in the second that's fine, but the key with the bluing is not to use too much. You will make your birds blue. The water should be about a sky blud color. If you can't see your hand at the bottom of the bucket there is too much bluing in the bucket. Dilute it some more.
Bucket 2 - 2/3 full of warm water - if you have bluing only in this bucket then follow the guidlines above.
Bucket 2 - (if bluing and soap were mised together in bucket 1) 2/3 full of warm water - add about 3/4 cup of white vinegar to plain old water. This is a rinse bucket. the vinegar cuts the suds. On soft feathered birds the soap residue can leave the birds feathers stringy. Stringy feathers can also be genetic but if your bird went in the wash cycle with nice cushion feathers it should come out with nice cushion feathers if you got all the soap out.
Bucket 3 - Plain rinse water. 2/3 full of warm water. Rinse the bird well. you can also use a 4th bucket of plain water for a final rinse.
Towel dry the bird. At this point I also clip toenails and trim beaks and use a soft toothbrush on their combs and wattles with plain warm water to scrub off any dirt and dry skin and dust.
If you can let the birds dry naturally, that's the best drying method, but if it's cold you can blow dry them. However, not on high heat and not using the cyclone setting on the hair dryer. You'll wind up with a bunch of twisted feathers in the cushion and back. Low heat on low to medium air flow. Typically if I am washing birds in cooler weather, I will wash 6 to 10 birds, put them in show cages after toweling then off and then rotate between each bird with the hair dryer for about 5 minutes a piece repeatedly cycling through the 10 birds or however many until they are most of the way dry. A nice sunny day though works just as well. Everybody has a bit different method to their madness.
Something else that works pretty well on stained birds is a product called Cowboy Magic. You spray it on and can wipe it off or rinse it out. I've used this on foot feathers and around the vent area with pretty good results. But again, if they white bird is heavily stained from running on the ground, you won't be able to get it all out.
Hope this helps.
Tom
I raise White Cochins in large and bantam and use the following washing methods.
I use 5 gallon buckets normally unless I am washing a Large male (they don't fit in the buckets) so all the measurements are based on 5 gallon buckets.
Bucket 1 - 2/3 full of warm water - add 1 capful of liquid bluing and 1 or 2 ounces of Adams flea/tick shampoo or some other mild soap (you can also use the shampoos for white horses or dogs). I like the Adams because it will kill any bugs if they happen to have mites or lice. If you only want to use soap in the 1st bucket that's fine, and can then use the bluing in the second that's fine, but the key with the bluing is not to use too much. You will make your birds blue. The water should be about a sky blud color. If you can't see your hand at the bottom of the bucket there is too much bluing in the bucket. Dilute it some more.
Bucket 2 - 2/3 full of warm water - if you have bluing only in this bucket then follow the guidlines above.
Bucket 2 - (if bluing and soap were mised together in bucket 1) 2/3 full of warm water - add about 3/4 cup of white vinegar to plain old water. This is a rinse bucket. the vinegar cuts the suds. On soft feathered birds the soap residue can leave the birds feathers stringy. Stringy feathers can also be genetic but if your bird went in the wash cycle with nice cushion feathers it should come out with nice cushion feathers if you got all the soap out.
Bucket 3 - Plain rinse water. 2/3 full of warm water. Rinse the bird well. you can also use a 4th bucket of plain water for a final rinse.
Towel dry the bird. At this point I also clip toenails and trim beaks and use a soft toothbrush on their combs and wattles with plain warm water to scrub off any dirt and dry skin and dust.
If you can let the birds dry naturally, that's the best drying method, but if it's cold you can blow dry them. However, not on high heat and not using the cyclone setting on the hair dryer. You'll wind up with a bunch of twisted feathers in the cushion and back. Low heat on low to medium air flow. Typically if I am washing birds in cooler weather, I will wash 6 to 10 birds, put them in show cages after toweling then off and then rotate between each bird with the hair dryer for about 5 minutes a piece repeatedly cycling through the 10 birds or however many until they are most of the way dry. A nice sunny day though works just as well. Everybody has a bit different method to their madness.
Something else that works pretty well on stained birds is a product called Cowboy Magic. You spray it on and can wipe it off or rinse it out. I've used this on foot feathers and around the vent area with pretty good results. But again, if they white bird is heavily stained from running on the ground, you won't be able to get it all out.
Hope this helps.
Tom
