Wash the chicks?

[Shrader]

On their daily trips out into the yard, my 9 chicks love to roll around in the dirt like dogs. It's cute, if a little weird. Now they're just filthy all the time. Does anyone else's brood do this? Is there anything I can/ should do to clean them up?

 

[Picco]

What your chicks are doing is dustbathing. It is a natural behavior that all chickens do if they have a place to do it. The purpose of this is to kill and prevent external parasites like mites and lice. Giving a chick a bath is a bad idea and really isn't a good thing to do. If you provide them with a dish of clean sand they will dustabth and not get too dirty. Just make sure the sand is from a safe source (not beach sand) and doesn't contain anything harmful.

 

[mudhen]

Definately not a good idea to wash them, they could get chilled so easily.
Only locally if get pasty butt, or I would guess if they are show birds.