Washing Chickens

How to Wash a Chicken for a Show

What

you'll need:

Three pails or large buckets
One large towel per bird
Dog nail clippers
Dog nail file
An old toothbrush
An old washcloth or other rag
Blood stop powder, or cayenne powder (in case you
nick a quick)
Carriers deeply bedded with clean shavings
Hair dryer (if it's cool outside)
Dish soap or some sort of show shampoo (better to
use something like Ivory than Dawn, which strips
too much oil from the feathers)
Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)
Bluing (only use if you have white birds,
and not too much!)
Crates deeply bedded with shavings to put the birds
into for the final drying time.

Fill the buckets with warm but not too hot water. Put

some Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) into the second bucket

(not too much, just enough to cut the soap) and if you are

washing white birds, several drops of bluing into the third.

Gently lower the bird into the first bucket (but do not

cover the head), swishing it up and down to get the

feathers wet. Put some soap into your hand and gently

brush it onto the bird, stroking in the direction of the

feathers, not against the grain.

Work the soap in, paying attention to the vent area and

the toes. Be careful with soap around the eyes, best to

just use a washcloth to wipe the head area. Use the

toothbrush to scrub the toes and legs, get all the crud off

of them.

Transfer the bird to the second bucket, swishing up and

down to get the soap off. Then put into the third bucket

for a final rinse. Wrap the bird in a towel, leaving the head

and feet sticking out. Sit with it on your lap (you will get

wet) and gently trim toes and beak (no judge likes to be

scratched.) Use the file on the beak to remove sharp

edges and refine the look. Wipe around eyes again with

the towel.

Use the blow dryer with caution, not too hot!

Using the warm (not hot) setting on the blow dryer, dry

the chicken so that it is almost dry (you won't get it all the

way dry.) Place it into the crate with shavings in a warm,

non-drafty place to finish drying (this may take several

hours.) We find we can do between six to eight birds per

day effectively (run out of crates!) Once the bird is

completely dry, return it either to the cage or its clean

pen.)

Nota Bene:

Before you wash your birds, you should always check

them for mites or lice, and treat appropriately. It's no fun

trying to wash a bird with mites crawling all over your

arms (yuck!)

How to Wash a Chicken