Dust Bath Day

I know a lot of non-farm people wrinkle their noses and say "chickens are just dirty, smelly animals". They get this mistaken impression from the smells of the tyson farms and such as they drive through the countryside. No doubt, those are smelly, so I can only assume they are dirty. I know the commercial chickens I see bouncing down the highway are a bit manky-looking. But in all fairness, cleanliness wasn't exactly bred into them, they end up on a rotisserie before they'd ever get a skin disease from lack of preening.

In general, most of the chickens I've had have been very fastidious. They preen their feathers constantly, removing bits of feather shaft, loose down, and the occasional molted feather. When they all get to preening it's a veritable dust storm of pale downy feathers and feather dander! Now, they may make a bit of a mess doing this, but the first breeze will carry it all away, and they are left shiny and soft, with nary a feather out of place. They detest mud, and being wet (madder than a wet hen, like silly geese, the saying began for a reason!) and they keep their feet and toenails well tended. Yes, they poop whenever they feel like it, but you'd only notice it with caged chickens or for loose ones just under a favorite night perch. My African Grey parrot makes just as much of that sort of mess, yet she's considered a fancy, elitist sort of pet. Nobody mentions her mess or smell when they hear I have a parrot in my house. Double standard, anyone? As with any house pet, frequent cleaning makes it a non-issue.

The only time I am likely to agree with the city-folk opinion of chickens, is when I open the hen yard and have to step OVER the sprawled, dust-bathing hens. They're digging up the entire entry side of the hen yard, which had previously been nicely covered in straw. They're flopped on their sides, feet waving in the air as they roll around in the dirt. They look like they've all got some rare neurological disease and are dying all over the floor, having seizures while they're at it. I should mention that when this weird act is going on, the little dwarf goat hops up on her perch (a big wooden phone cable spool) and just watches the mayhem. Perhaps she thinks bowling for chickens is no fun when they're already splat on the floor? (I'll save the Petal stories for another time, suffice it to say that bowling for chickens is her favorite sport...)

Anyway, they are so determined to get as dusty as possible, that I literally have to hop over little knots of writhing hens to go check the laying boxes for eggs, since they refuse to move when I loom over them. Clearly they are not intimidated, and in fact they stop their fluffing only long enough to glare at me for blocking the lovely patch of sunshine on my way by. Well. Excuse me!

There is actually a good reason for all this dust bathing. They manage to keep from getting mites and other nasties on their skin by dusting themselves every so often, and then shaking like a wet dog, followed by a thorough preening. I guess maybe they asphyxiate the parasites with all that dust, but however it works, I acknowledge that it is a necessary thing. Now if only I could get them to put the yard to rights when they're done!

Today's Egg Count: 6

the cloudy cold morning followed by blustery hot afternoon put the girls off their game, hopefully none will get sick...