Yesterday all but one of my chicks, so 17 of them, squeezed into their favorite spot to take a dirt bath. The spot is about 2 ft. long by one foot wide; so they were really crowded. Meanwhile, the only other chick, Airhead, found another spot for dust bathing and had the whole area to herself. I'm thinking I might want to reconsider her name. You're right, it's alot of fun to watch.
We had to make ours a sand box! They look like they're having spasms. We treat the sand with DE to prevent infestations. Loads of fun, I must get pics.
Our DE is on the way from Spatcher here on BYC. As soon as it arrives, it will be applied to their coop and run. Dh was watching the chicks night before last and got to see, first hand, what I was telling him about. He thought it was quite amusing, too. lol
I have 15 week old chicks in the house in there box with shavings and they do it under the heat lamp in a pile of shavings...Thought it was cute to see the older ones do it outside intill i saw the babies do it.
Chickens dustbathing are hilarious. But my favorite part is watching them get up from the dirt and run! Remember Pigpen from Charlie Brown? That's what they look like with clouds of dust around them and bigger bits dripping out of their feathers And then they shake off!!!