Clean Cochins

Good Thursday evening. I now have Buckbuck and Babe in a box on shavings...in my bedroom. Yes, in my bedroom. There is no more room in the living room for chickens in boxes...so..here they are. You might think me a little insane, but trust me, I am not the only one that does this when its show time. I have been told so by others that share my enthusiasm for a clean bird. Today I experienced bathing giant cochins. Its not like bathing any other chicken. They have an unbelievable amount of down and feathers...and it takes FOREVER to blow dry them...when I say forever, I mean I was drying for 45 minutes and decided both I and the bird needed a break. Then I decided that break could be until tomorrow...when I will fluff them with the dryer some more. I am tired. I do love showing, but keeping up with the everyday chores, teaching Shelby school, and then getting birds ready for show makes me tired.

So what does getting a cochin ready for show entail? Well I will tell you. First you have to fill the sink or tub with enough water to cover their feet and part of their legs and let them soak while you clean the poo off their rear feathers. You see, cochins are really fluffy. If you have an enormously fluffy rear, when you try to poop, sometimes it gets caught in that fluff, over and over. So, said owner will have to loosen this ball of poop and get it loose from your rear. OR, she may do what happened to Buckbuck, since this process is gross and she didnt want to do it again. She had her daughter hold you backwards with your butt up in the air while she takes a pair of scissors and snips that ball of poo right off...and into the trash...wah lah...no more poo ball. ;)

You then fill an empty shampoo bottle with about an inch of baby shampoo and fill the rest of the bottle with warm water, shake and set aside. Drain the sink or tub, whichever you use. Now pour the shampoo water solution on the bird, all over, under the wings, on the neck, chest, back, butt, and lather up the bird. Rinse the bird thoroughly and squeeze out excess water...(don't squeeze the bird, squeeze the feathers...)

Now take a capful of Downy fabric softener and mix into a pitcher of warm water. Pour this over the birds back and tail. Don't rinse it out, just squeeze out excess and towel dry.

Now comes the drying...get comfortable, because you are going to be there awhile...lots of blow drying...

My hat is off to anyone that shows cochins. It is a lot of work to get them ready to show. Not to mention their feet are feathered and you have to keep them from stepping in their poo while on shavings. So you are checking the shavings from time to time to roll that poo off to the corner away from feathery feet.

I may sound a bit delirious in this entry. If I do, it is only because I am slap wore out and need a good nights rest. I am kind of achy from contorting myself on the floor and over the tubside and the sink (The tub didnt work out so well, so we switched to the sink) so Advil PM will be on the menu tonight.

The show in Monroe is Saturday. Its going to be a haul, at least a couple of hours drive...so I will leave out early. Friday night there is rain predicted...I really hope it doesnt overlap into the wee hours of Saturday morning. I don't like to drive in the dark...I really dont like to drive in the dark...while its raining.

Ian just called and a gluer is down so Tex and him are still working on it. His day was supposed to be over at 7 pm...but its going to be a bit longer tonight. I reckon I will go in there and make us some good old loaded up sub sandwiches. I make them like Subway does, cucumbers, green peppers, black olives, lettuce, onion, two cheeses and three meats, sub oil, salt, pepper and oregano, pickles,mustard,mayo...my tummy is a rumblin' so I am going to close for now. I hope everyone is doing fine and I will see y'all after the weekend. :)