Getting Whites--White.

[greg rountree]

I'm having big problem getting my White Yokohamas ready for the show--after I bathe them there is this yellow coloring that comes through on the very top of their feathers--they actually look worse than if I had'nt bathed them--I let my birds free-range---any ideas on getting rid of this yellow--how do you get your birds to have that 'snow white ' appearance? :( Greg

[Evy]

Keep them out of the sun !

[Pathfinders]

You could try re-bathing them with a show shampoo for white dogs or horses, which has just the right amount of bluing built in. You have to let them soak for a while though, and it still won't get it all put right.

Evy is right, sunlight does this. It's a conundrum. You want them to be healthy and run around and be chickens, but it's not always the best thing for their feathers.

One reason my kids decided to stop showing/breeding White Silkies was that you just can't keep them on grass at all. I don't have that many wire cages, and didn't want to buy a whole bunch just for ff birds.

Give me a nice hard feathered, clean legged bird every day. I can day range them, keep them on grass, and they thrive. I could (if I were the type to do so) scoop them up and take them to a show with no bath at all. But I do bathe mine (washing some birds today in fact for next weekend) as I feel it makes a difference, and I know at least one judge who can definitely tell (and he knows who he is.) :lol:

[Evy]

The late Shelby Harrington, when he lived in Delaware, used to let his georgous white Rocks out , but in an area that was mostly saplings. They got only dappled sunlight but plenty of exercise. He once told me that genetics comes into play as well. There's white & then there's white.

[Pathfinders]

The late Shelby Harrington, when he lived in Delaware, used to let his georgous white Rocks out , but in an area that was mostly saplings. They got only dappled sunlight but plenty of exercise. He once told me that genetics comes into play as well. There's white & then there's white.

I miss Shelby, I do. He moved to our area of KY two years before his death, and I sure learned a lot from him! He was so gracious about sharing his poultry expertise, and both he and the Twistlemanns were very generous with birds for the local 4-H kids. I wish Dennis and Bertie had been able to stay here, but they're back in DE now.

Shelby's big beautiful poultry barn he built here was amazing, I only wish I could have one so perfect.

((sigh))

Laura

[MattL]

Try washing them in Tide with bleach alternative! Let them soak for 5-10 minutes. You will be amazed at the results.
MattL

[Pathfinders]

Try washing them in Tide with bleach alternative! Let them soak for 5-10 minutes. You will be amazed at the results.
MattL

I always wondered if that was bluing in Tide, it certainly looked like it. Thanks for that tip!

Laura

[goosedragon]

Try washing them in Tide with bleach alternative! Let them soak for 5-10 minutes. You will be amazed at the results.
MattL

I always wondered if that was bluing in Tide, it certainly looked like it. Thanks for that tip! Laura
Its probably not bluing like you expect, but 'optical brighteners' which are dyes that manage to absorb light from the UV (black light) region of the sprectrum and re-emit it in the blue (visible) part. This tends to off-set any yellow or brownish tints to give a whiter effect. Since a treated surface can actually give off more visible light than is falling on it, optical brighteners are more effective than the old bluing effect that just changed the tint of the light returning to the eye. ~gd

[MattL]

Exactly GD, It's called Brightner 49 and we add it to all the P & G products with Bleach Alternative. Birds washed in it simply stand out about the rest.
MattL

[dakers]

At Matt's suggestion, I've used Tide with Bleach Alternative for the past couple of years with white rocks & like it. Thanks for giving away my secret Matt! Just kidding.

The thing I sometimes don't do is let it set for 10 minutes before rinsing. That would be easy enough to accomplish by sudsing up 2 or 3 birds before rinsing the first one.

[goosedragon]

Exactly GD, It's called Brightner 49 and we add it to all the P & G products with Bleach Alternative. Birds washed in it simply stand out about the rest.
MattL About 25 years ago it used to be part of my job to 'reverse engineer' the market leaders to produce private label products for the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea company (the local A&P supermarkets' label) our Tide rip-off was pretty good and a great buy since we didn't spend all that money on advertising that P & G did. Our Blue version would out sell the White about 2 to 1, housewives thought they had to have a blue detergent to get their whites white. ~gd

[MattL]

Actually one of the reasons Tide and our sister brands have over 60% of the World Laundry Detergent market is because it actually works better at getting dirty clothes clean. There are other brands which are cheaper but tests show they are less effective at cleaning and removing stains. While marketing may drive some sales, I like to thing a good product that actually works helps too!
MattL

[goosedragon]

Actually one of the reasons Tide and our sister brands have over 60% of the World Laundry Detergent market is because it actually works better at getting dirty clothes clean. There are other brands which are cheaper but tests show they are less effective at cleaning and removing stains. While marketing may drive some sales, I like to thing a good product that actually works helps too!
MattL Don't get all defensive, Now that I am no longer in the detergent business I buy dry Tide with bleach and use about half the recommended amount. One thing I learned while I was in the biz is that more is not better, you are better off pretreating spots or stains and using just enough to remove light to normal soil in the main load. If not properly rinsed the anionic detergent tends to build up on the fibers and then form an insoluble gunk with the cationics in fabric softener. This gunk dulls everything both whites and colors.
As for tests I have run and scored more of them than I care to remember ( 4 loads/day X 250 days per/yr X13 years) We used Tide as our reference standard and it wasn't unusual to have some private labels outscore Tide, they just didn't didn't do it consistenly...
Marketing- According to the Nielsen Company, in 2007 P&G spent more on U.S. advertising than any other company; the $2.62 billion it spent is almost twice as much as General Motors, the next company on the Nielsen list. ~gd

[MattL]

Not defensive, just a curious Marketing Major:)
Yes P & G spends a ton of cash in Marketing but also realize the number of brands they are advertising. They recently sold Folger's to Smuckers but they now own 53% of Smuckers.

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[tinag210]

WOW! I have tried other detergents and always switched back to Tide, but I didn't realize how many other P & G products I always buy.

[Bo Garrett]

There is a shampoo on the market used for white and gray horses called Quick Silver. This is without a doubt the best on the market. Lather it in your hands first or you'll have a blue bird but it works very well. I generally wash my birds first to get them clean and then lather them up with Quick Silver and let them stand for about a minute or two then rinse and place in the sun to dry. They will be so white they'll hurt your eyes but it really doesn't ge out old hardened stains. I raise and show white wyandottes and large white cochins and always get asked how I manage to keep them so white. Keep'm in the shade and bathe them as soon as they get dirty to keep from setting the stains.

Bo

[cathryn]

For stains like grass and dirt, cecal droppings, et..Cowboy Magic Greenspot Remover works well too. Bill Bowman called me before I left for Marietta one year, asking me if I had anything I could bring to clean 2 of his light brahma pullet's chests. Both pullets had their chests gray from the show coops, and one also had cecal droppings smeared all over. After we put our birds in my girlfriend and I each took one to a table, soaked, sprayed their chests till the dirt ran off. Patted them carefully dry, blow dried them, then took them back to him. Bill could not believe his eyes. Both pullet's chests were snow white.
I like it for my silkie's foot feathering, my silkies dig outside in the grass and dirt. I have been using a ridiculously expensive dog shampoo based on the same principle as the Tide; Tide is way cheaper and what I will be trying next! Thank you for the tip! Cath