Dirty Birds

 Chickens love taking Dirt Baths. With the word “bath” in the name you would think that you would be getting clean right? However, in order for the chickens to get clean, they have to get dirty first! Dirt baths, also known as dust baths is a form of cleaning the chickens bodies of unwanted parasites and keeping their skin and feathers clean of undesirable oils.  Basically, what happens when they are taking the dust bath, if there are any parasites on their skin the dirt or dust would suffocate the parasite and they would fall off. I have noticed that certain chickens in our brood enjoy taking dust baths more often than others. Our White Leghorns take one almost every time they are outside (which can be multiple days in a row).

  What they do is find a spot in the yard where there is loose dirt or mulch and they lay down in it and with their feet scratch the ground and kick the dirt up into their feathers. They can do this for hours and hours. Even on rainy days when the ground is wet they will kick the mud up all over their bodies and in between their wings-they are covered. I feel with the wet dirt, this acts as a cooling agent for them on those super-hot days when they are looking for some relief.  They do prefer this over water from what I have seen.  I have put a bin of water down before and set a chicken in it and they hopped right out, very uninterested in getting wet.

  When you first see them take a dirt bath it is quiet amusing. They ruffle their feathers, kick up the dirt and roll around in it until they are covered.  You will also noticed that once a chicken finds a perfect spot to take a dust bath, all of the other chickens want that same exact spot. They do not want the sense that they are missing out on something. Eventually, they take dirt baths in the same spot so many times there is a hole in the ground.

 Now if you do not have areas in your yard where the chickens are able to take a dust bath, you can create your own. I found on Pinterest that you can take an old tire, lay it on the ground and fill it with dirt, mulch or ashes from your fireplace and the chickens will use that for their bathing. I am thinking about trying this in the winter this year since the ground will be covered with snow. They are going to need somewhere to do this until spring comes back around.

  Even when the girls are in the coop for the night, you will look in there the next day and see the bedding in piles all over instead of nice and flat. They scratch the ground and mix the bedding up and dig little indentations for them to sit in in the pine shavings.

    It is one of my favorite things to watch the chickens do. When they stand up they shake their entire bodies and dirt flies everywhere. They love it and it is a great form of entertainment for me!