Quote:
Yeah, I'm wondering that too... I don't want to show a blue chicken OR a brown one!
When you use it, put it in a clear or white container so that you can see how dark the water is. You want the water to be a medium to light sky blue. Make sure that the bird is totally wet and clean before you soak them in the bluing. Any dry spots in the feathers will absorb the bluing and they will turn blue. I've had birds turn blue, and if caught in time, you can scrub out most of the blue with a nail brush and some dawn dish soap. I've actually found that the ones that turned blue then scrubbed clean actually come out better than the ones that are slowly soaked then just rinsed. I wouldn't advise trying this method on purpose because sometimes you just can't get all the blue out and you're stuck with an unshowable bird until it molts the blue out.
After using the bluing, you will see that the bird will have some blue in its feathers. Don't freak out, this is what you want, a slight blue evenly distributed throughout. When these birds dry, they will dry white not blue. If a bird's feathers are too heavily stained or if they've been stained by corn or the sun, using bluing on these birds often gives them a green tinge, which is less desirable than either a blue or a yellow bird.
I'd suggest practicing with bluing on a few birds you don't plan on showing, just until you get comfortable with using it.
Purple people.....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm