Rosie likes to dust bathe in the afternoon, after a morning of chasing bugs and eating my flowers. Nothin' like a nice bath ( photo / image / picture from marlingardener's Garden ) She dug a pit in a flower bed and spent a good ten minutes tossing dust in the air and clucking happily to herself. Dust baths eliminate mites and do something good for the feathers, as well as making for a contented chicken. A hole in a flower bed, dug by a 12 lb. chicken, is pretty large. Maybe I'll plant a tree now that I have the hole!
Your title says it all! Rosie obviously loves her bath time and then the period of relaxation after it. A woman after my own heart.
Judging by Rosie's aversion to water and a spray bottle, that chickens prefer a dust bath over a water bath. I wonder it that trait is rooted in their ancestry? Jerry
Jerry, a friend of mine has "Nekkid Neck" chickens. They look horrible, diseased, and turkey-like. However, they are very docile and hardy. Her NNs stay out in the rain and she has to shoo them into the coop. If she doesn't they could get pneumonia, really! I think Rosie and her sisters are too prim and proper to get all wet, so dust bathe instead.
Sorry Kildale, but RIRs aren't really adapted to our climate. Otherwise, I'd go out and take a photo of one for you (although they are not nearly as handsome and charming as Australorps!)
The reason for the image is to add it to the Provincial and State Birds As it is the bird of Rhode Island.
