Polish Breeders Club

Maybe I asked this before or read on a thread previously but don't recall and can't locate anything but what is a good trick to getting the white white, whether on the whole bird or crests?  Tried it all, short of taking birds to my hair dresser for a day of professional coloring and spa treatment  (ha ha)--blueing,  dawn, dog shampoo, miracle groom to no avail.  Not sun yellowing but poo is the problem.   Has anyone tried the cowboy magic green-out?  I'm leary of making another investment in something that doesn't work and will just sit on the shelf keepign the other nonworking stuff company. 

Thanx:)

There is no good safe way to get white white.

You have to set up their environment so they don't get stained to start with. Pop bottle waterers go a very long way to solving the problems of crest staining. The crests get dipped in the water of other waterers then they get soiled and you're hooped.

Tieing up the crests with small elastics or electrical tape works the same way but you have to take them down eventually if you are going to show. So make sure they have a very narrow water system to drink from when you do.

Clean shavings and clean equipment all contribute to cleaner birds.

Agree with Blackstar .  I do my darndest to get them sparkling white. I find Cowboy Magic works very well (love the way it smells) -- especially for showday spots and stains. It can be used by itself and rinsed then dried, or let dry then brushed off with a damp towel. I buy this stuff by the half gallon.  For serious baths I start by spraying with Spray and Wash ( the one especially for whites), then add drops of graylady shampoos such as Silver Fox. I wet the feathers, then spray/apply all this stuff, and mush it into foam with my fingers. You can leave on for a while, sometimes that helps. But really, prevention is the best. One person I ran into who successfully shows bantam white birds swears that keeping them on wire big enough to keep them out of poop is the only way. The poo stains can be  very tough. Another thing to remember -- wash the crests every few weeks or so as a routine.A stain that sits will become more or less permanent.  Bluing in the rinse or washwater is ok, and does seem to brighten up the bird, but won't eliminate genetic or sun-caused yellowing. 

The bottle waterers I have up but while some prefer it, I do  not like the idea of bird being on wire all the time.  Just a personal preference.  I keep the pens clean to the point of nuts I think!!  Many times I look around and think the coop floors are cleaner than in my house!  HA HA

And sounds like Cowboy Magic will go on the shopping list--thank you for the suggestion (among others).  Funny how it's only the polish that seem to be the big stain makers; daughter's white rocks are perfectly clean, to the point of for show only needing to do touch up on the hind ends and feet/legs.  Our white d'uccles are the same way, with the exception of those feathery feet.  Guess we just own some really messy polish!! 

morganschicks at September 29, 2011 at 2:51 PM

The bottle waterers I have up but while some prefer it, I do  not like the idea of bird being on wire all the time.  Just a personal preference.  I keep the pens clean to the point of nuts I think!!  Many times I look around and think the coop floors are cleaner than in my house!  HA HA

And sounds like Cowboy Magic will go on the shopping list--thank you for the suggestion (among others).  Funny how it's only the polish that seem to be the big stain makers; daughter's white rocks are perfectly clean, to the point of for show only needing to do touch up on the hind ends and feet/legs.  Our white d'uccles are the same way, with the exception of those feathery feet.  Guess we just own some really messy polish!! 

Mine are almost never on wire.  They live together in a large community barn and run- with very little picking or arguing- and they get to go out on grass when it isn't raining.  It isn't worth it to me to have birds that live as virtual prisoners- and I think my recent wins speak for themselves that it isn't necessary either.

Never have kept a bird on wire.  I like shavings in their pens and small, temperment appropriate family groups.  I don't have aggressive birds in any of my breeding lines so its a matter of who likes who and where everybody seems happiest.

We have a motto around here that applies to most things "If it ain't fun we aren't doing it." and that applies to the animals as well. We all have to work but we all have to be happy too.

I am in the "happy  little groups" arena also though after getting home from show last night did some rearranging and the ladies who are now w/differnt fellas are milling about this morning doing just dandy. 

Sort of off subject but I keep 4-6 hens per roo and the WCB roo appears to have 2 favorite ladies (their top feathers are more broken off then the others, that's my evidence).  Is this normal?  So it was those 2 who were swapped out w/2 others last night, in hopes he will a) find new romance and b) give those ladies a break (the roo they are in w/now is young and not yet quite as aggressive in doing his job).  Oddly enough our buff roo causes zero damage to his gals but does his job very well.  Of course he's also the best tempered roo we have.