Sunday, January 13, 2013

Bawk a dub-dub, chicken in the tub.....

You are going to do what to me?!  A bath?!

Today we had unseasonably warm temperatures for January, which was wonderful since I needed to "poop scoop" my yard.  I turned the hens loose for grazing and frolicking while I performed this chore, and everyone was enjoying themselves except my Americauna hen, Bluebelle.  Blue had droopy wings, and just did not feel well.  I checked her over and noticed she had what looked like blood coming from her vent and diarrhea all over her bottom.  I had never given a chicken a bath, however with some tips from the friends on the Facebook page, I decided to try it.



I first filled the bathtub up to the chest level of the hen, with luke warm water.  (I needed to make sure it was high enough to soak the debris off the feathers below the vent.)  I used a very mild Aloe and Oatmeal shampoo for cats to wash her with, figuring cats are fairly sensitive and hoping if it was safe for them it would be safe for a chicken.  (One reader suggested baby shampoo and she used it with great success, but I didn't have any of that.)  I scrubbed her up and got all of the junk off her, and then I refilled the tub and rinsed her well.  From there I put her on a towel in between my legs and dried her with my hair dryer.  This took about 20 minutes.  Then I bedded down a dog crate with towels and left her in the bathroom for several hours just to make sure she was good and dry before returning her to the coop.


This whole process went better than I thought it would, and I must say bathing a chicken was easier than bathing a dog!  I think Bluebelle might have enjoyed having a bath.  She never once flapped her wings to try to get out of the tub or get away from the hair dryer, and she was actually falling asleep towards the end of the drying.

I checked on her bum before returning her to the coop, and it actually looked a lot less irritated already.  I think some of the other hens were pecking her, which is what caused all of the blood and combined with the poop issue, it was just a mess!  I took a stool sample into the vet office to make sure she didn't have a coccidian infection, and she didn't, so I am hoping she will recover quickly.  Fingers crossed!





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13 comments:

  1. It does look like she enjoyed it...

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  2. I am surprised it was that easy! I've had to wash cats before and ended up particularly bloodied at the end. I thought chickens might be the same way but how great, she liked it! Maybe she's a high maintenance bird- next it will be pedicures!LOL Have fun and hope she remains well.

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  3. She looks like she enjoyed her relaxing bath! Hope her bottom continues to improve. New follower, by the way, found you via the clever chicks blog hop.
    Shell @ thecountrychick.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks for following Shell! I hopped over to follow your blog but was unable to due to my iPhone misbehaving. Give me a day! ;) Love your fire starters!

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  4. Awww, Bluebelle is so cute. Sounds like the bath went well! I have done this several times and my hens do try to jump out of the water, so I have to hold them. They do seem to like the blow dryer, though! Hope she continues to recover.

    Visiting from Backyard Farming Connection :)
    Tammy
    ourneckofthewoods.net

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  5. I've never given a chicken a bath! Good for you :)I would love to have you join The HomeAcre Hop at:
    http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/01/1213.html

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    1. Thanks for the invite. I would love to join you all!

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    2. Thanks so much for sharing Emily! I love the title of your post :)

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    3. I had to dig deep for that title. It was the only creative thing I did that day! Haha!

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  6. I hope she recovers well! Poor thing. I have one low-ranking chicken who seems to enjoy anything we do in the house, away from the others. I'm pretty sure she feels more confident from the special treatment. After a few days of being carried into the house, she found the courage to stay out with the others all night. :-)

    Bonnie
    www.HungryChickenHomestead.com

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    1. I think Bluebelle was happy to go back out to the garage, even the mean girls in the flock are better than the Jack Russell Terrier staring at her and licking his lips! :)

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  7. I'm so glad the pecking didn't get worse. Any time the chickens draw blood from one another, I keep them separated until the area is completely healed since chickens are drawn to bloody and red areas. Somehow they sense vunerability.

    Anyway, thank for linking up with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop this week; I hope you’ll join us again!

    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino
    The Chicken Chick
    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

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