BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Raising BackYard Chickens › Chicken Behaviors and Egglaying › Odd behavior - at least to me!
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Odd behavior - at least to me!

post #1 of 5
5/14/12 at 5:09pm
Thread Starter 

I raised chickens a few years ago, and they didn't do this...at least not that I saw:

 

hole.JPG

 

There are 6 hens - 3 RIR and 3 NHR - there, 9 weeks old.  They have scratched a hole about 2" deep and 6" round.  I was wathcing thme one day and figured they were going after bugs, since the henhouse floor is the ground.  But, as you can kinda see, they laid down in the hole as if they were nesting!

 

I was working on the run earlier today, and after they got bored watching the human hit his thumb several times and get a little vocal, they went over to the hole, which was covered with hay, and scratched out all the hay, then laid down in it again!  What the heck are they doing?  Even though they're not laying yet, they know where the nesting boxes are....

 

I'm sure it isn't anything to cause concern...I'm just curious!

 

Have a great day, and God bless!

The Ole Cowboy

Gittin' older, but not agin'!

 

Starting again - and enjoying it!  3 Rhode Island Red hens, 3 New Hampshire Red hens, 3 Barred Rock hens, 3 Ameracauna hens, 1 Buckeye hen - wait! Chicken math...while I was completing the brooder, 12 more Buckeye pullets and 2 Buckeye roos...a total of 27 birds!  Need a bigger coop...time to build the Buckeye Boudoir! 

Reply

The Ole Cowboy

Gittin' older, but not agin'!

 

Starting again - and enjoying it!  3 Rhode Island Red hens, 3 New Hampshire Red hens, 3 Barred Rock hens, 3 Ameracauna hens, 1 Buckeye hen - wait! Chicken math...while I was completing the brooder, 12 more Buckeye pullets and 2 Buckeye roos...a total of 27 birds!  Need a bigger coop...time to build the Buckeye Boudoir! 

Reply

Featured Stories on BackYard Chickens

BackYard Chickens Starter Kit Price Guide
Poll: Why raise backyard chickens?
The Basics Of Raising Chickens - Raising Chickens 101
post #2 of 5
5/14/12 at 5:16pm

they are trying to dust bathe................totally normal.

wife, mom, survivor, birdlover
Reply
wife, mom, survivor, birdlover
Reply
post #3 of 5
5/14/12 at 5:34pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by artsy1 View Post

they are trying to dust bathe................totally normal.

 

 

That makes sense - a little part of my older-guy memory now remembers myother birds doing that, but the middle of NM is much dustier than this area of the TX Hill Country!

 

Thanks a lot!

The Ole Cowboy

Gittin' older, but not agin'!

 

Starting again - and enjoying it!  3 Rhode Island Red hens, 3 New Hampshire Red hens, 3 Barred Rock hens, 3 Ameracauna hens, 1 Buckeye hen - wait! Chicken math...while I was completing the brooder, 12 more Buckeye pullets and 2 Buckeye roos...a total of 27 birds!  Need a bigger coop...time to build the Buckeye Boudoir! 

Reply

The Ole Cowboy

Gittin' older, but not agin'!

 

Starting again - and enjoying it!  3 Rhode Island Red hens, 3 New Hampshire Red hens, 3 Barred Rock hens, 3 Ameracauna hens, 1 Buckeye hen - wait! Chicken math...while I was completing the brooder, 12 more Buckeye pullets and 2 Buckeye roos...a total of 27 birds!  Need a bigger coop...time to build the Buckeye Boudoir! 

Reply
post #4 of 5
5/14/12 at 7:24pm

Since they are doing it in that little patch of sunlight looks to me like they are sunning themselves:)  My chicks will sprawl out on their sides with their wings out all crooked and flop over like they are dead the moment a small bit of sunshine hits them, lol. 
 

Reply
Reply
post #5 of 5
5/14/12 at 7:35pm

Hi andycowboy----

 

Here is another consideration.... Not sure how warm Wimberly was when they were digging---but sometimes my chickens dig to get to touch the dirt (especially if it is slightly damp).  I think they do it to cool off.  

 

 I guess the sunlight would cancel the cooling part, unless it was a little wetter there and easier to dig because it was beside the hardware cloth.  

 

They look healthy and happy---so nothing to worry about.  :O)

"Was dich nicht umwirft, macht dich starker"   "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."-Friedrich Nietzsche 
My new tag line...added to the end of every sentence--->  "...... after all, they ARE chickens!!!"

 

Here's a link to my BYC page:  http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chickats-page

Here's a link to my BYC blog of sorts http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/jottings

 

 

Reply

"Was dich nicht umwirft, macht dich starker"   "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."-Friedrich Nietzsche 
My new tag line...added to the end of every sentence--->  "...... after all, they ARE chickens!!!"

 

Here's a link to my BYC page:  http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chickats-page

Here's a link to my BYC blog of sorts http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/jottings

 

 

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Chicken Behaviors and Egglaying
BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Raising BackYard Chickens › Chicken Behaviors and Egglaying › Odd behavior - at least to me!