Saw one of my chicks do it's first dust bath... and questions!

[thistlewick]

Oh man was it hilarious and cute -- we have the really fine pine shavings, sort of like sawdust (I dunno, I got the package from MyPetChicken and that's what it came with ) and it's very soft on their feet and cozy, which is nice for babies and it soaks up the poop well.

ANYWAY - last night I was just out there hanging with my little ones and observing - we have a hexagonal brooder, so no corners. One goes into one of the "corners" and decides to do a dust bath and the others were !!!!! so excited!! All were trying to do it too, but they wanted to do it ONLY IN THAT SPOT and it was cracking me up. They were trying to GET IN and ended up just sitting on each other. None of this fussed the one trying to dust bathe, it just carried on, whether another chick was half sitting on top of her or not.

I thought this was the cutest thing and wasn't really thinking they'd try to do it so soon, they are only 1 week old or so.

A couple other questions about chick behavior; as this is my first batch ever:

Why do they peck each other's beaks? This seems most of what they do to each other - is this pecking order behavior? Just wondering.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Could be pecking food or bedding off each other, or just grooming each other.
My adults do it also. Hens do it to each other and especially my roosters let the hens do it.

You should bring dirt in for the babies to dust bathe.... I introduce dirt within the first week if not vaccinated to help develop an immunity to coccidiosis.

 

[Happy hen lover]

I love dust bathes. I always added a small tub of dirt for them to do it in; this was a plastic shallow pan. They may all jump all in there beware.

Here's my first batch

 

[Mrs. K]

The first time I saw mine do it outside in damp earth, I thought they had died. The were all stretched out, partially buried, and kind of kicking...I thought it was the death throes. Then they saw me, jumped up and shook and looked just fine!

 

[Perris]

I give them a box of bonfire ashes, sharp sand and soil; they love it

Sorry forgot to answer your questions: yes it's natural behaviour, they may be cleaning bits off the other's beak or just exploring the world; they use their beaks like toddlers use their mouths. The more stimulus you can provide the better. Bring some of the outdoors in, in a clump of turf or pile of leaves or suchlike, or take the chicks out in the fresh air and soil.