I've added another first to my livestock keeping experiences: bathing chickens. This "Hannah" (all our Buff Orpingtons are named Hannah) was looking a bit scruffy, and when she finally lost her tail, I decided I had to find out what was going on.
She knew I was after her, so it took me a couple of days to catch her. I was fully equipped with gloves, grubby clothes, and a hat to keep out any possible creepy crawlies that an on-line search had me convinced she would possess.
The prescription was a bath in Dawn dish-washing detergent. Any bugs she had were supposed to float to the top and then we would have to repeat in two weeks. Kathryn was at-the-ready with dry towels as I suds Hannah up and down in the soapy water, keeping her head clear of the bubbles. A thorough rinsing followed by a towel rub-down was next.
Chickens can't regulate their body heat with wet feathers, so the next step was blow-drying. All, in all, this was Hannah's least objectionable part. Kathryn held the blow dryer while I fluffed Hannah's feathers. The whole process took us about an hour.
The verdict: no bugs. Whew. It was quite interesting to get an up-close look at her feathers, which appeared to be sprouting anew. This must be a case of molting (chickens loose their feathers upon occasion). Kathryn described them as looking like little paintbrushes since the quill portion of the feather was most prominent.
There was much clucking and talking when I placed Hannah back in the coop. Despite how glowing her few feathers look, I haven't had any other volunteers for the beauty treatment. I guess I haven't found a new calling.
She knew I was after her, so it took me a couple of days to catch her. I was fully equipped with gloves, grubby clothes, and a hat to keep out any possible creepy crawlies that an on-line search had me convinced she would possess.
The prescription was a bath in Dawn dish-washing detergent. Any bugs she had were supposed to float to the top and then we would have to repeat in two weeks. Kathryn was at-the-ready with dry towels as I suds Hannah up and down in the soapy water, keeping her head clear of the bubbles. A thorough rinsing followed by a towel rub-down was next.
Chickens can't regulate their body heat with wet feathers, so the next step was blow-drying. All, in all, this was Hannah's least objectionable part. Kathryn held the blow dryer while I fluffed Hannah's feathers. The whole process took us about an hour.
The verdict: no bugs. Whew. It was quite interesting to get an up-close look at her feathers, which appeared to be sprouting anew. This must be a case of molting (chickens loose their feathers upon occasion). Kathryn described them as looking like little paintbrushes since the quill portion of the feather was most prominent.
There was much clucking and talking when I placed Hannah back in the coop. Despite how glowing her few feathers look, I haven't had any other volunteers for the beauty treatment. I guess I haven't found a new calling.
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