BS: Why don't hens take baths?

Subject: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Joybell
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 07:04 PM

I don't have the time of the inclination to join other groups, I like it here. Anyway Mudcatters are so knowledgable.

I've had a lot to do with wild birds and I've watched all sorts of birds taking baths. They all love water. Chooks are birds. Once they were forest birds where it rained a lot -- presumably. Why don't they take baths? I've never seen a bird bath in a chicken coop. I know about dust baths -- whole different thing -- I don't mean them.

It's heading for 100 degees here today and I just gave our pet rooster a shallow bathing dish. He thinks I'm mad. I'm watching and hoping.
Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 07:22 PM

because cocks aren't fussy.....

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: bobad
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 07:33 PM

Because they can't turn the faucets?

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Joybell
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 07:34 PM

Ah! Of course!

He's getting some wives soon. My friend told me not to worry about which breed of hen to get because of that very idea.
"As long as they've got feathers and legs he'll be happy", she said.
True-love is building a fine fox-proof palace for them all.
With or without a bathroom? That's the question.

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 08:56 PM

Even if you build the bathroom, they won't come to use it. Once you get your chickenyard built for goodness' sake don't drop your gum! My brother did that once at my grandma's place and must have tried seven or eight times before he found it again.

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 09:34 PM

If you really want your chickens to take baths, trade 'em in for ducks.

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 09:56 PM

Dachshunds don't take baths willingly either. Perhaps there's a connection.

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 10:27 PM

They do bathe-- dust baths.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Janie
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 11:06 PM

Who says they don't?

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: katlaughing
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 11:48 PM

Janie, that was adorable!

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Joybell
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 12:12 AM

awwwwwwww! Thank you Janie. I feel cooler already. OK. They get a shallow bathing bowl and I'll see what happens.

Little Hawk -- I think you've got something there. I hadn't thought how alike Chickens and Dachshunds are. Without the feathers, of course. Then there's the old saying -- Man's best friend is his Chicken.

Ducks? I love Ducks -- my first very best friend was a Duck. I was two. Now we are short on water in the Summer. The best I can do is small bathing bowls for the critters and showers for us. Our water supply is tanks that collect water from the roof. Wild Ducks visit in the Winter and Spring.

Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: JennieG
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 12:15 AM

That chook has a very blissful look on its liddle face......a look of pure ecstasy!

Cheers
JennieG back from holidays

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 12:31 AM

There is the odd dachsund who likes bathing too...but only when it's his idea. Some like to go in the water to cool themselves off in hot weather.

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 07:28 AM

Well they get cross that's why. Haven't you heard the expression 'Madder than a wet hen'?
Then there's the starting problem, if they end up with a wet battery.

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: open mike
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 03:38 PM

i was surprised to find pits appearing in my yard last year when a hen
adopted me....she found dust baths to be a wonderful thing. she was an araukana and i loved her blue green eggs which she left in a dark corner of my shed. she perched up in the redwood tree and learned to come help me when i weeded the garden. i got weeds and she got bugs.

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Joybell
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 04:07 PM

I'd love to have hens around me in the garden but Foxes and Hawks and Eagles live here too and they just love chooks. I do have reptiles and frogs and birds helping me in the garden. We have a Swamp Wallaby at the moment too. He prunes the rose bushes nicely and his big soft feet are gentle on the vegetation. He mostly lives beyond the garden. We have tiny native Quail that come and go. They're so secretive the predators seldom catch them. Then there's the Snakes -- big Copperheads and Tigers. Gentle and not at all aggressive -- although that fact doesn't make a good story. They eat the surplus Swamp Rats and non-native Mice.

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 03:48 AM

To be serious... chickens don't have waterproofed feathers like ducks do... so waterlogging and sinking would be a big problem for them.

Show chickens (and presumably like the vid, petting chickens for therapy centres) get washed so I guess it's a case of trusting the owner and getting used to it. Not that I would like a turbo boost hair dryer that close to my nether regions....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 05:29 AM

Perhaps they just like fowl smells!!

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 07:18 AM

Oh Mike, for cluck's sake!

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 08:28 PM

I have watched lots of little birds (sparrows, finches, other small birds) in the bird bath, and they're in and out pretty quickly. There are doves that will sometimes simply sit in the water for long stretches of time.

I used to have a cat who didn't mind baths and who adored being dried with a hair dryer. The cats I have now I don't bathe, though one is not feeling well and could use it, but the exercise would stress her out too much.

One of my dogs loves bathes, and has her own wading pool in summer. The other one doesn't like them and will only get an occasional drink out of the wading pool. With those two, I think the different coats makes a difference. The terrier has a simple coat, short, and in and out of the water is great. The catahoula has lots of downy hair under the longer hairs and I think for her that is more insulating to help keep her cool than getting wet. At least, that is her view of things.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Janie
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 09:06 PM

I have a son who is a bit of a rare bird. He doesn't like water baths either;>)

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 11:20 PM

One of our hens that raised a brood of ducklings learned to wade around the edge of the pond after her brood mutinied and went swimming. She was quite shocked but gave up trying to convince them of their insanity. She began finding pollywogs for them, and other special treats in the water.

Neat video!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 11:23 PM

Joy,

Seems obvious to me.

They just don't want to wash the pheromones away!!

Hi the Greg!!

Art

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: maeve
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 05:27 AM

As Liz said, the length of time it takes to dry out that mass of chicken feathers is considerable. You really don't want chickens running around with sopping wet feathers. Our bantams do enjoy a moist dusting hole in the heat of summer, however. I occasionally use the garden hose to wet down their yard and sprinkle the chooks themselves to help them stay comfortable when they show early signs of heat stress.

I've washed our chickens when they needed it. Once in the warm water they will relax and enjoy th heat and massage. It's important to rinse thoroughly, getting rid of every whisper of soap, and to dry them completely.

I can't see the video Janie posted, but Charlie, I love the polliwog story. Thanks gnu, for pointing out this thread.

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 05:35 AM

Janie, that video was wonderful. What a well behaved little chicken! :0)

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 08:07 AM

Yes, that video was certainly something to crow about!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: gnu
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 01:03 PM

Yup. Round these here parts today, at -20C, -30c windchill, if ya didn't get yer cock blown dry, he'd be stiff in no time.

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 03:43 PM

It was -30c here this morning, period, forget about the wind chill.

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 04:06 PM

Just think what that would do to LtS's tits!

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 05:59 PM

They'd certainly be blue - in more ways than one!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: Joybell
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 04:03 AM

Thanks, Everyone, for the responses. Hildebrand says -- Hi Art. What a wonderful story, Charlie.

I wondered about the waterproofing thing -- but lots of wild birds without waterproofing still take baths. Our Magpies are a good example -- they take lengthy plunge baths -- also Willie-wagtails and Ravens, all the Honey-eaters. They stand around in the sun afterwards to dry off. I love watching baby birds taking their first baths. It's true Chooks are big feathery birds. Come to think of it I've never seen an Emu bathing.
Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Why don't hens take baths?
From: maeve
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 04:39 AM

Most (if not all) birds do have some waterproofing, supplied by special oil glands and worked into their feathers during preening activities. Ducks just have more than most. I think you're on target when you mention that "It's true Chooks are big feathery birds."

maeve