My chickens know that when I walk outside, I always have a treat for them. Sometimes, it’s strawberry hulls, sometimes it’s yogurt, sometimes it’s flowers from whatever might be blooming. If there’s nothing I can find for a treat, I’ll grab a hand full of milo and throw out to them. They love that! They get so excited when they see me coming. They run from one end of the run to the other, back and forth, waiting for me to get there with their treats.
Unless, one of them has dug the perfect hole. Then she will not get up! She will miss out on a treat because she knows, if she gets up, someone else will get her hole.
She lays there, not even caring that she’s missing out on the treats. Then she rolls around. Sometimes she’s on her side, sometimes she’s almost on her back, sometimes her head is in the dirt.
Every few seconds, she scratches to get fresh dirt, which makes the hole deeper.
And finally, she gets up. And, she’s filthy! She’s dusty and there’s no telling what she’s been laying in. You know how chickens are about their bathroom manners!
And as she’s walking off, I think she’s saying . . Can’t a girl get any peace and quiet around here without that darned camera catching my every move?
Chickens are such dirty creatures. I already knew that because . . well, Helen told me so . . but I love my girls anyway! Maybe we need to install a shower in the chicken coop! 🙂
Kelly Ann says
How about a little claw foot tub..they could wrap their heads in towels, have some bubbles, a few scented candles….
Maria Stahl says
I love it when there are a couple of inches of snow on the ground and one of them finds a hole and takes a dust bath. You really realize just HOW dirty she is when she gets done, stands in the fresh snow and shakes. Dirt EVERYWHERE. They are so funny.
Denise ~ Justquiltin says
You have very talented chickens. In that last photo – which one is doing the can-can there with the kick of her leg. 🙂
glen says
My Grandmother’s sister, Aunt Annie, never would eat anything with eggs in it, because chickens are such “dirty creatures”. I heard that until I was a teenager. Now that she is gone all these many years I miss her stories about the chickens. Like the time during an eclipse in the early afternoon when it got so dark that all the chickens went to roost!
glen: my daughter missed out on those stories from my colorful Great Aunt………
Cathy Stoddard says
The dust bath is the chicken’s version of a spa! And yes, we may think chickens are dirty creatures, and maybe they are on the outside, but did you know, the place on the “girls” you know, where the egg actually comes from – is extremely sanitary? And the coating, the sanitary place puts ON the egg, is a miracle in itself? It is called the “bloom” and is why you should never wash your eggs – unless you absolutely have to – it removes that coating that has sealed all the tiny pores in the shell and keeps them fresh. Ever wonder why the chicken lays one egg a day but her chicks all hatch at the same time? Yup, the bloom has a lot to do with it.
Yes, I will admit, I have washed some of my girls’ eggs – sometimes, you just have to. If so, put a drop or two of mineral oil on a cotton ball and rub it gently on the clean, dry egg. It is what commercial egg places do.
Probably more info than you wanted – LOL!!!!