first warm day

[bigdog1163]

this is the first warm day we have had in about a month. why is it my chickens like to dig holes and roll in dirt? its funny to watch them stand up fluff their feathers and the plume of dust come off them. also... i have a easter egger that refuses to go in the coop at night even if the temps. go below 0 i have to go out their and make her go in their. she would rather jump over the fence and be with the turkeys then the other chickens.

 

[sumi]

Chickens need to dust bath, it's instinctive behaviour and they love it. Even battery hens try to dust bath in their cages. It's their natural way of keeping their feathers free from bugs and it is believed that by collecting and then shaking off the dust in their feathers they reduce the amount of feather lipids and therefore help their plumage maintain good insulation capacity.

As for your EE, some chickens just don't like being in a coop. You'll have to keep putting her in at night until she gets the hint and goes in by herself. Outside at night is not a good place for a chicken. Some believe that chickens are reluctant to go into the coop because there may be mite problem in there, so make sure your coop is clean and mite free, so she won't have anything to complain about

 

[theoldchick]

My dust bathing beauties...









This one is really enjoying herself...yes she's alive.

 

[sumi]

This one is really enjoying herself...yes she's alive.

I like this pic. Total bliss

 

[fisherlady]

My chickens lost their favorite dust bath areas to the snow and poor weather.... so to give them a dusting area within the coop I got 6" deep containers, about 20"x36" or so in size and filled them half full with a mix of sand, fireplace ashes and a couple of cups of DE.

Put the bath tubs into the coop itself and watched the fun! The chickens loved them! Only problem I had is the fact that the chickens tend to like to do spa time all at once, so the tubs aren't big enough for the one group, so I just ended up dumping their tub in a convenient corner of their coop and then they could all play at once.

If you have any access to wood ashes I would give it a shot.... ours are happy as can be to have it to play in!