Chicks rolling in the bedding

[BarnMom719]

So I just changed the bedding and I thought something was wrong with 2 of my chicks. They were rolling in the bedding like a dog does in the grass. Is this normal? It was quite funny once I realized what they were doing. It was my 2 dominant chicks too. At first my daughter was like "mom did you break her leg when you picked her up?" She was scratching and rolling and twisting around in the new bedding. Very funny. Do your chicks do this or are mine just weird? I always get the neurotic animals anyway....could be just me.

 

[Blooie]

Nope, perfectly normal, and perfectly adorable! They're dust bathing. I used to take a little dirt and trhow it into the brooder, then watch'em go!!

 

[Jemima66]

Two of my two and a half week old chicks just started doing this today. I was worried at first! Glad to hear others have had that happen as well.

 

[DelcoChix]

They'll do it all their lives--healthy for them and hilarious to watch. I let all my big girls out to run around the yard most every day--anywhere from 6-12 will make a mad dash to my unplanted (because of them!) raised garden and hit the dirt, literally! They go nuts, stretching their bony legs out, spreading wings, lying on their sides as they whip the dirt all over. Pretty funny. Well, except for the potholes they leave in the barn aisle--they like that floor for bathing too.

 

[gander007]

They are going to do this all their lives

 

[mmmeyer]

ahhh the chicken divits in the yard. Someone came to visit and she said in a panic. "Theres something wrong with one of your chickens its lying in a hole I think its dead". I laughed and said 'No its just dusting itself in the dirt.

 

[gander007]

ahhh the chicken divits in the yard. Someone came to visit and she said in a panic. "Theres something wrong with one of your chickens its lying in a hole I think its dead". I laughed and said 'No its just dusting itself in the dirt.

Ya I have had that happen before it is so funny .....

 

[Drewnkat]

Ha! My babies haven't been doing this yet (they're only 1 week old).

But we are watching the neighbors' hens while they are away a few days. Today we let them out to roam the yard as they typically do, and one made a beeline to a divot in the red southern clay soil. You know where this is going, it was dust bathing time!