Chickens + Water + Soil = Muddy Chickens

Melanie and Richard (with Glinda as scribe) write:

We've had a lot of rain and our frozen ground is thawing. In the chicken yard, that equals some muddy chickens. Richard has been putting fresh straw down so they have nice dry places to go, plus the hen house is open, of course. Today some of the hennies looked like drowned rats, except with feathers instead of fur. (Not that we have ever seen any drowned rats.) Some hennies were more excited about mud than others. Others were as pristine as fresh fallen snow. The Buff Orpingtons seemed to be cleaner than the White Plymouth Rocks. The roosters were not muddy, even though we did see them in the mud. Those chickens who seemed to like the mud were doing their little mud dance, looking intently for whatever they could find.

Kayte was the worst (or the best, depending on your perspective). She was drenched. She had mud all over her beak, wattles, and comb. The feathers around her neck were incredibly wet. But she was just as peppy, mischievous and curious as always. At the end of the day, she stood inside the hen house preening under the heat lamp to put her feathers in place and to dry off. Tupelo, on the other hand, was very clean. Not a feather was misplaced. You would not have known she was in a muddy chicken yard. It is interesting to see their different personalities emerge. Kayte and Tupelo were at either end of the spectrum and both seemed quite content about it.

The muddy hennies seemed to enjoy the mud more than their human friends did. We were not crazy about having muddy and wet chickens. Somehow, wet chickens in cold weather seems like they might catch a chill. It was not like we didn't want them to have fun.

We did give them straw to lure them into the house, offering treats (yummy sorghum seeds and a favorite-scratch grains) and turning on the heat lamp. The lamp offered warmth and a place to dry off. Tomorrow, we will let them out later in the day so that they do not have as much time to play in the mud.

Photo: There is no photo because no pictures were taken. We thought you could use your imagination on this one.