Dust Bathing

Thought for the day “ for some reason chooks like to have a dust bath “ usually by wriggling around in the dust in an area of loose dirt whilst laying on their sides. With their scratching they raise a cloud of dust around their feathers to clean themselves and to kill parasites. Now how this behavior actually kills parasites, I™ll never know. I actually think that the parasites arent actually killed as such, they just get so annoyed by the behavior that they decide to leave and find a more docile host. In any case, the chickens seem to enjoy this particular behavior and all chickens should be given access to some dry dirt to indulge in this behavior. A word to newcomers though, the first time I observed this behavior I thought there was something seriously wrong with the girls as the position they get themselves into when digging in the dirt looks decidedly un-chickenlike.