Can I give my turkey a bath?

[Tennessee Great Granny]

I have two BB white turkey poults that are about 5 weeks old. One of them made a lot of potty on the other bird and that poor bird is just nasty looking. I'd like to give it a bath. Can we bath turkeys? Will it make my bird sick? I was thinking of bathing it in warm water and towel drying it followed by a low warm temp hair dryer drying. I am new to turkeys. I read turkeys are more fragile and always looking for a new way to die. I don't want to kill the baby off. I would think turkeys are at poultry shows as much as chickens and I know chickens are bathed. Anyone got any recommendations for cleaning this messy baby up to it's white fluffy cute self?

 

[R2elk]

I have two BB white turkey poults that are about 5 weeks old. One of them made a lot of potty on the other bird and that poor bird is just nasty looking. I'd like to give it a bath. Can we bath turkeys? Will it make my bird sick? I was thinking of bathing it in warm water and towel drying it followed by a low warm temp hair dryer drying. I am new to turkeys. I read turkeys are more fragile and always looking for a new way to die. I don't want to kill the baby off. I would think turkeys are at poultry shows as much as chickens and I know chickens are bathed. Anyone got any recommendations for cleaning this messy baby up to it's white fluffy cute self?

You can bathe it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-showing-how-to-bath-a-chicken.1540582/

Personally I don't wash my poultry. It removes the natural oils they preen their feathers with. My turkeys do a good job of cleaning their own feathers.

 

[Tennessee Great Granny]

You can bathe it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-showing-how-to-bath-a-chicken.1540582/

Personally I don't wash my poultry. It removes the natural oils they preen their feathers with. My turkeys do a good job of cleaning their own feathers.

There is so much manure on this poor bird it'll be months before it comes off. It's a young poult and not outside yet. I am thinking it will be fine with a bath if we avoid a chill. Excessive dirt on a duck which depends upon clean well oiled preened feathers just to float and avoid hypothermia when swimming can easily lose the ability of the oils from being dispersed just from being really dirty. I am thinking oil glands are oil glands and plugged up ones will be just as non-functional as all other oil glands whether on a duck or a turkey. I am giving the bird a couple days to see how well it can clean itself. Progress = wait and see if more improvement is made. No progress= tubby time for baby turkey. It's just not healthy to have a coating of germy fecal material on one's body no matter what species.

 

[jmurno]

They will give themselves dirt baths if they have access to some nice disturbed soil -- like around the base of a newly planted shrub or garden soil. They loooooove dirt baths!

 

[Tennessee Great Granny]

They will give themselves dirt baths if they have access to some nice disturbed soil -- like around the base of a newly planted shrub or garden soil. They loooooove dirt baths!

I'd have no qualms about doing that except they are only a month old and still need the brooder. We've had an unusual cold spell, so even the days are nippy even though we normally get up into the 60's after 10 am and the sun is up and the wind is blowing from a different direction. Our nights dip down to freezing temps lately. I have diatomaceous earth I mix with sand and dirt for the chickens and have plans to do the same for the turkeys. I have only a half acre. Parts are wooded so no barn and my shed is overwhelmed. The turkey coop won't be finished until next week. The runs will go up asap after the 2 coops are finished. Thank you for your reply.

 

[jmurno]

I'd have no qualms about doing that except they are only a month old and still need the brooder. We've had an unusual cold spell, so even the days are nippy even though we normally get up into the 60's after 10 am and the sun is up and the wind is blowing from a different direction. Our nights dip down to freezing temps lately. I have diatomaceous earth I mix with sand and dirt for the chickens and have plans to do the same for the turkeys. I have only a half acre. Parts are wooded so no barn and my shed is overwhelmed. The turkey coop won't be finished until next week. The runs will go up asap after the 2 coops are finished. Thank you for your reply.

I also worried about how well my poults would tolerate cold. I ended up keeping heat lamps on in the coop/brooder then just opening the doors. I think daytime temps were between 50-60 and they ran around comfortably outside most of the day. At the time they were about 2-3 weeks old. After watching them closely for a day, they learned that they could go back into the coop for heat and then were totally fine.

 

[Tennessee Great Granny]

Well, here's the can you bathe a turkey update. Not only can you bathe a turkey they actually love it a lot. They don't like the water up past they underside. They love to have their dirty feet cleaned. So I soak them and gently rub with a wash cloth until they are perfect. They enjoy warm water, and will actually drink their tubby time water. I used aquaphor baby shampoo/soap to get them clean after they have had their fill of drinking their tub water. One really didn't need a bath but was so ready to climb in with their filthy nest mate that I gave it one too. I used a tote in the bathtub because I figured it would conserve water. But it was only big enough to hold one bird at a time. They've now had two baths each and really like getting all the attention. It really seems to calm them down believe it or not. My son dries them off with the hair drier on a low setting after sopping up as much water as he can with towels. He works hard to avoid letting them get chilled. Since turkey poults are always looking for new ways to die we do everything we can to keep our babies healthy. Some babies!!! I can tell you these juveniles weigh more than a ten pound bag of sugar already. Be blessed with a healthy flock and have fun! Thank you everyone for your comments.

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

Well, here's the can you bathe a turkey update. Not only can you bathe a turkey they actually love it a lot. They don't like the water up past they underside. They love to have their dirty feet cleaned. So I soak them and gently rub with a wash cloth until they are perfect. They enjoy warm water, and will actually drink their tubby time water. I used aquaphor baby shampoo/soap to get them clean after they have had their fill of drinking their tub water. One really didn't need a bath but was so ready to climb in with their filthy nest mate that I gave it one too. I used a tote in the bathtub because I figured it would conserve water. But it was only big enough to hold one bird at a time. They've now had two baths each and really like getting all the attention. It really seems to calm them down believe it or not. My son dries them off with the hair drier on a low setting after sopping up as much water as he can with towels. He works hard to avoid letting them get chilled. Since turkey poults are always looking for new ways to die we do everything we can to keep our babies healthy. Some babies!!! I can tell you these juveniles weigh more than a ten pound bag of sugar already. Be blessed with a healthy flock and have fun! Thank you everyone for your comments.

Amazing!

 

[LaylaJane]

This was a GREAT question! Thank you!

 

[WildlyDivine]

so any tips on bathing a full sized turkey? I had one get attached by a coyote. the wounds seem pretty minor but does have one that opened up under her vent that now has some flesh protruding through. The other wounds that I can see look more superficial and like scrapes. they dont look infected but are dirty. Im thinking of trying to soak her in warm epsom water in a tote? then spraying with blukote? very open to advice.