4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[jenniferrose]

Hello everyone! This is my first post on the forum. We got our purple eglu and 2 lovely chickens 2 weeks ago, and although we have had tons of questions, so far they have all been answered by a post already on here, but I really can't find anything to help us this time!

 

Here are the chickens:

 

 

The gingernut is called Georgina, and the pepperpot is called Margot. We love them!

 

Yesterday we noticed Margot had poop all over her fluffy bottom, and the feathers were all matted (they insist on sleeping together in the nesting box and pooping in it), so we decided to give her a bath. It was HORRID! We followed the instructions on the omlet guide page, and used nice warm water and shampoo, but by the time we had rinsed her, we noticed she was shivering.

 

We wrapped her in a towel and then started to dry her with a gentle hairdryer, but it was awful - she was freezing and shivering, and when we let her on the floor for a minute, to see if she would shake off any water at all, she couldn't walk properly and was staggering around. After about 45 minutes she was all dry and fluffy again, and even laid her first egg later on in the day! But we are afraid we nearly killed her - she is such a little madam normally and it was horrible to see her like that. We will probably have to give her a bath again if she gets poopy again, and we would really appreciate some advice on what we did wrong.

 

Also she has been a bit subdued since (still very boisterous but not quite as much as before!), we're not sure if that is because of the horrible bath or the egg?

 

Incidentally she looks glorious and glossy since her bath - maybe it was the fancy Lush shampoo we used?!

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can give us.

[Egluntyne]

They can shiver a bit after a bath. I always dry them vigorously with a towel......and I tend to do it on a warm day too.

 

Why not just give then a bottom wash instead of a full bath another time?

[CluckyBucks]

Hello and welcome to the forum both your chooks are beautiful.

 

Instead of giving your chook a full bath, why not get a damp cloth and gently but firmly clean her bum until it is clean.

I agree with the post above on saying that bathing your chook on a warm day is best because if you immediately put your hen outside after a bath, they can can get extremely cold because of the dramatic change in temperature.

 

Hope this helps!

 

CONGRATULATIONS on your first egg

 

xx xx

[Mrs Frugal]

Oh bless her. Bathing can be a bit traumatic for them but it's definitely better than risking problems if you don't clean up their dirty bums. I bathed all 5 of my girls yesterday as I was treating them for skin parasites and rather than getting them wet all over, I do as Cluckybucks has suggested and just stood them in some fairly shallow water (up to mid-leg on them anyway) and splashed the water up onto their bums so that the feathers were soaked. A quick pat dry and a squirt of Johnson's anti-mite later and they were fine. They also got a nice big cabbage as a peace offering afterwards . Keeping their bums clean is really important so don't be put off by this experience. I'm sure your hen will be OK. The staggering may just have been due to her laying her first egg as some hens can find this quite a shock.

[jomaxsmith]

I barely ever bathe mine - I find that if I put diatom on dirty knickers they will often preen themselves clean with no need for water.

 

When I do bathe them (knickers only, I wouldn't do the whole hen) I make sure the sun is out, grab them firmly under my arm and do just a few scoops (with a margarine tub out of a bucket) of very diluted shampoo in warm water. It takes just a few seconds and they are off before they know what's happened.

 

Jo

 

*Edited to add which bit of the hen I bathe!

Edited July 26, 2009 by Guest

[Guest]

I don't bathe mine, especially not with shampoo as this will destroy the oil in their feathers. If one of mine has a dirty bum I either pick it off by hand , trim the dirty feathers off VERY carefully with scissors or use mosit toilet tissue and give them a wipe. It all depends how bad it is.

[jenniferrose]

Thanks so much for the advice everyone! I'm glad we didn't nearly kill her - but I think a quick wash on the bum will be the option going forward rather than a full bath!!

[Redwing]

Mine staggered about like drunks the first time I bathed them, I thought that maybe the water that gets in their ears can unbalance them so am careful not to get their heads very wet now

[JM]

My pepperpot gets a mucky bum too and I've either rubbed it off by (gloved) hand or just washed her bottom too. However, I think I may have been a bit too enthusiastic as the feathers round her bum have been stripped a bit, so she looks a bit bedraggled. I'm hoping that when she has her first full moult, it will improve her looks from behind!

 

Having said that, she always looks very worried when I start looking at her bottom and scurries away! It's not a restful experience for any of us when it comes to picking up and inspecting!!