Bathing Bathing is not just fun for birds. It is important to their health. When a bird bathes he is taking care of the quality of his feathers. After bathing you may notice your birds shaking off water. This helps organize feathers. You will also see them running their feathers through their beak. Birds have oil glands and this practice keeps their feathers in good condition. Condition is often the determining factor at the show bench. To allow you birds to bathe you need only provide a shallow dish of cool water. You could use any suitable bath tub. For my small cages (breeding cages) I use bird baths purchased for that purpose, for my flights I use frozen dinner trays (for some reason, the birds like the black color). As long as the edge is not sharp and the container can be washed thoroughly any shallow container is suitable. The water should not be freezing cold nor should it be warm. I would guess the water I put in a bath is about 70F. The depth should be about 3/4 of an inch. You do not want your bird to drown. After bathing, the water should be removed since it may be fouled with droppings and the birds may drink the water. If you are using a vitamin supplement in their drinking water, it would be wise not to give the bird a bath on that day because there is a good chance they will first drink their bath water and not go near the vitamin water for some time.
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