Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[sallyj]

Mabel, my Bluebelle, had dirty knickers a while back so I washed them with soapy water but I didn't manage to rinse them properly because I was doing it on my own and she wriggled away. Well, some of the feathers around her vent looked permanently stiff rather than fluffy. Today I managed to rinse them in warm water (with help from OH) and then blow dry them. They look exactly the same. They are clean but not at all fluffy. What do you suggest? Have I ruined them forever?

 

I never thought I would ever be having a disccussion about hen's knickers

[stoice]

My bluebelle Mabel (Spooky, same name for our bluebelles!) had dirty knickers and i found the same. So i washed them again wrapping her in a teatowel apart from her back end, I then used an old toothbrush on the wet soapy feathers and it did the trick. I could even mange this on my own with tea towel holding down her wings and kinda rubbing each mucky feather between my thumb and the toothbrush. Hope this helps

[sallyj]

Hi stoice

 

Thanks for you help. I will have another go with a toothbrush

[smokiechicken1969]

by the way dont put the toothbrush back in the bathroom cabinet....

 

is there a sticky or post on how to bath a chicken and is it something that we should do once a year or so? is it just for show hens or ones that need a little help?

[prof]

i dont know anything about bathing chucks i thought it was just for show chickens

[Plum]

I have washed the odd bum because in summer a dirty bum can lead to flystrike - nasty.

[stoice]

by the way dont put the toothbrush back in the bathroom cabinet....

[BocBoc]

i dont know anything about bathing chucks i thought it was just for show chickens

 

 

We haven't bathed any of ours yet but all ours have dirty knickers due to this weather and no proper dust baths. We are intending to bathe ours when the weather gets a bit better

[Alis girls]

Can you use the flystrike stuff you use on rabbits which you stroke down their back, tum and bum?