The Show-er

Thanks for returning, there's a little more to the prep story that you need to hear.... 

I heard from someone who used to show chickens, that the night before we should bathe them in Woolite so that they were super white and clean.  Did you you know that people did such things?  Me either.

How do you go about washing chickens?  Naturally you do it in your kitchen sink.  But first you have to go out in the freezing cold pitch black dark of night when you get home at 8:30pm and re-sort your chickens.  Then so that they don't get eaten by whatever it is that is lurking out there beyond the edges of where the yard light reaches, or freeze to death away from the heat lamps, you take them first to your bathtub to have them wait in the warm house.

All weekend I've been calling this, "The Year of Ignorance".  This is probably the best place to start using this phrase, because honestly how to do you go about washing a chicken?????; personally... I was ignorant on the subject.

We filled the sink with warm water and a little Woolite.  I didn't want them to be too soapy.  We'll just say that the first time I didn't use enough soap.  Chickens are gross and dirty and disgusting and people should not bathe them in their kitchen sinks.  Just sayin.

Then you need to rinse them. 

L did get involved because he was not satisfied that things were getting clean enough.  My pull down faucet did come in handy, and the spray feature was used.  J was compelled to take a video, but I can't quite figure out how to get it uploaded.  Email me if you really want to see it.  I won't expect many takers.

Then you have wet chickens, and yes if they get scared as their foot slips down the disposal drain they flap their wet wings wildly.  Why yes, that does create quite a mess and you have to take a shower when it is all over.  

Naturally, you don't want to take a wet chicken back outside to the freezing cold so you bring the metal trough into your dining room, yes the very one that they wouldn't stay inside in the coop.  Thankfully chickens are more stupid than we are ignorant, and they think that cardboard laid over the top makes it impossible to get out.  Honestly, I wasn't so sure that would be the case during the night, but it all worked out.  There were no chickens roosting on the couch when I woke up Friday morning.

After the sink was cleaned and bleached I went back to see the damage that my bathtub and bathroom took as the birds awaited their turn at chicken spa.  Believe me when I tell you, you are thankful I didn't take a picture.  

They looked like wet rats when we 'put them to bed', but in the morning they were indeed beautifully white puffy clouds of well preened feathers. Show time...