Siobhan O Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Hello, I have had my 2 girls (Whoopi Goldberg and Tina Turner) for a month now, and they are settling in just fine. I went away for a weekend, leaving 2 beautiful heads of white feathers, to come back and see they are grey from dirt! I think a mixture of rain, and the static eglu for 4 days may be the cause. They are still quite wary of me, and find it a little distressing when I attempt to go near them or pick them up. Has anyone any tips on how to bring back those fabulous White crests? What products to use ect... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percy049 Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 You will proabably be needing to give them a bath! It would be best to ask a show-er (such as Redwing )on how to do this, and they bath their chickens before a show Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 I'd be wary of using any product in their crests unless its really necessary in case it goes into their eyes, so make sure you shield their face as you would if applying lice/mite treatment etc. Personally I would spend my time getting a bit of trust before scooping them into a basin. I normally do this by offering treats from the hand, talking softly so they recognise my voice, and just being near them without doing anything to them. You can often pick up a poland from behind, but it has to be said some do just squawk and refuse to believe you are not going to murder them, whilst others are realsweeties and will sit on your shoulder If you really want to give them a bit of a clean, then pick up your poland (wrapped in an old towel if necessary) and dab/brush the crest away from the eye either with just warm water or with a bit of gentle baby shampoo, whilst protecting their eyes. I use an old soft nailbrush and/or toothbrush. Then have another bowl of clean water to rinse. Do it on a warm day, polands have thin skulls and you't really want her with her crown exposed for longer than necessary. People do use certain whitening products on show birds, but I don't think that is a good idea for a garden bird. If you were going to bathe the whole bird then you stand them in the sink/washing up bowl etc of warm water, brush/massage over your cleaning product, stand them in another bowl of clean water and rinse off, and then blow dry if necessary or stand near a rad if its a coldish day. Remember tho, this is just a normal part of being a chicken. If I washed my birds every time they got muddy (and I have some LF white sussex as well as w/c polands) I'd never stop You will find they also go a bit yellow (actually tobacco stained looking) from being in the sun. Many snowy white birds are either kept indoors, under a UV filtering cover, or are whitened for show. I generally just wait for the rain to do its job with the worst of it and let the birds get on with it for the rest of the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
