Wet Feather HELP

[amynw]

Hello everyone, while my husband was changing his oil on Thursday, my goose Abby was hanging out around us and just as fast as I ran to the house to answer the phone, and my husband was wiping his hands off because the phone call was for him, my Abby plopped herself right down in the oil pan. Diesel oil! She was BLACK. I instantly picked her up (what a mess) and wiped her off with rags we had laying around. While I was running her bath water, she had started preening herself and got the oil ALL over her, where before it was pretty contained. I had to scrub her down with dawn, and blow dry her. She was as good as new. This morning I go out and notice she looks very scruffy compared to her siblings, I started panicking thinking something had gotten her but I realize she had just bathed herself in their pool. But now my worry is, she looks so scruffy because she lost her natural oil when I bathed her with dawn to remove the motor oil and shes water logged. I had to squeeze water out of her down with a towel as it's no longer running off of her. How long will it take to get her natural oil back? Should I drain their pool until she gets her oil back on track? I have actual waterers they can use in the mean time, but they sure love their pool. Any help is appreciated. The fall temps in Western MD are getting fairly chilly and I dont want my girl being cold and wet

 

[Isaac 0]

Do you have a few pictures of her?

I would agree, that if your temps are getting down low, it may be best to restrict her water source only to a deep water bucket, and maybe, mist her feathers gently with a hose, or sprayer during the warmest part of the day. I have had wet feather birds come here, and depending on their age, condition, etc, most tend to gain their water repellency "enough" to be back in the water in a week or two. For full bound water repellency, she may need to go through a molt.

 

[sourland]

I would restrict her access to swimming water until she regains visible feather quality.

 

[amynw]

Do you have a few pictures of her?

I would agree, that if your temps are getting down low, it may be best to restrict her water source only to a deep water bucket, and maybe, mist her feathers gently with a hose, or sprayer during the warmest part of the day. I have had wet feather birds come here, and depending on their age, condition, etc, most tend to gain their water repellency "enough" to be back in the water in a week or two. For full bound water repellency, she may need to go through a molt.

I just left for work so I dont have an updated picture of her today. She was born in April. I put her in my chicken coop before I left for work while the chickens are free ranging for the day so she is in there with a red light today. Shes not happy, but I didnt know what else to do. poor girl is so curious and gets herself into trouble