Dirt Baths

I had no idea that chickens did this, but they do, and it is hilarious to watch.  They give themselves dust/dirt bathes as a way to rid themselves of parasites that would fester inside of their layers of feathers.  I watched Big Spoon do it the other day for twenty minutes; twenty minutes of nestling herself in a hole in the dirt that she dug out for herself and flinging all of the loose dirt onto her body.  The other three chickens walked around her, watching intently, wondering what their fearless leader was doing.  Twenty minutes, she nestled and flung and massaged her body against the dirt.  When she was done, she stood up, fluffed out all of her, and shook off, like a dog after getting a bath.  Within five minutes, all three of the ladies were digging themselves down into the dirt in the exact same place and flinging dirt around like it was their job.  The cutest thing was to watch the two red sisters, Stella and Juniper, lay back to back and fling dirt onto each other.  They were pushing against each other and rubbing the dirt in, eyes closed, enjoying their new dirty ritual.  It was a fascinating half an hour, I have to tell you.

The ladies love getting dirty!