Sunday, August 2, 2009

Dustbathing Chickens

Why do chickens dustbath? They seem to do it during the hottest parts of the day, so part of it might be to stay cool. I've also heard that it suffocates the mites and lice, so they do it to relieve itching. Here's videos of both adults and babies bathing.

3 comments:

  1. I don't know, Chels, but cows and horses do it, too.

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  2. Yes, it is to stay cool. I've seen elephants do it when they don't have access to water to throw on themselves.

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  3. They're really enthusiastic about it. There are these massive dust craters in the barn. A few of them are considered 'prime' and the bully hen will kick other hens out if she wants in.

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