So yesterday after I got home from work I looked out the window, and was terrified that I had purchased a 'burrowing' chicken. I mean I knew they scratched, and I'm fine with that, but I don't want actual holes in my yard. All I saw was what looked like a hole, and I didn't see the chickens hanging out anywhere.
As it turns out it wasn't a hole. It was all three chickens in a small scratched out area next to one of our new trees (not an actual burrow) and were dust bathing together. They were kicking dust, and in the process kicking each other and flinging dust. Wiggling and rolling, squashing each other, and looking absolutely silly. I walked up the them and just watched on in confusion. I then walked away, got my fiance and we both proceeded to watch this goofy procedure. I never thought they would take a community dust bath. I owned chinchilla's as a child, but chickens have a very different method for rolling around in the dust. It's somehow goofier.
I wish I'd had my camera on me because they were just going to town and taking brief almost naps ... or stare at the human that's staring at them. I finally forced them all to stand up and walk around to ensure there wasn't anything actually wrong. Since we got Betty they've been pretty flighty. Something has either changed. Either my forcing attentions on them the last few days for pictures, or some odd endorphins brought on by dust bathing made them not even care that we walked right up to them. I even pet Peep's head.
Then a couple hours later instead of forcing us to chase them back into the coup (Betty is better about just hoofing it to the coup, but Peep & Cadbury take a little convincing and ring around the coup to go in) I found they'd already gone in of their own volition. It took me walking the entire yard and worrying that they'd somehow escaped or been drug off by some unknown monster before I looked in the coup and saw they were all just hanging out in the top of the coup. This is the first day I haven't had to physically convince them it was time to go to in for the night.
I'm sure to some of you this is completely normal, but for me it got a good laugh and a woop of "They can be taught"!
As it turns out it wasn't a hole. It was all three chickens in a small scratched out area next to one of our new trees (not an actual burrow) and were dust bathing together. They were kicking dust, and in the process kicking each other and flinging dust. Wiggling and rolling, squashing each other, and looking absolutely silly. I walked up the them and just watched on in confusion. I then walked away, got my fiance and we both proceeded to watch this goofy procedure. I never thought they would take a community dust bath. I owned chinchilla's as a child, but chickens have a very different method for rolling around in the dust. It's somehow goofier.
I wish I'd had my camera on me because they were just going to town and taking brief almost naps ... or stare at the human that's staring at them. I finally forced them all to stand up and walk around to ensure there wasn't anything actually wrong. Since we got Betty they've been pretty flighty. Something has either changed. Either my forcing attentions on them the last few days for pictures, or some odd endorphins brought on by dust bathing made them not even care that we walked right up to them. I even pet Peep's head.
Then a couple hours later instead of forcing us to chase them back into the coup (Betty is better about just hoofing it to the coup, but Peep & Cadbury take a little convincing and ring around the coup to go in) I found they'd already gone in of their own volition. It took me walking the entire yard and worrying that they'd somehow escaped or been drug off by some unknown monster before I looked in the coup and saw they were all just hanging out in the top of the coup. This is the first day I haven't had to physically convince them it was time to go to in for the night.
I'm sure to some of you this is completely normal, but for me it got a good laugh and a woop of "They can be taught"!
