Spa Day

A small band of intrepid chickens, lead by the smaller Ameraucana rooster, has taken to wandering down alongside the grass arena all the way to the end of the pastures.  It is now part of their daily morning routine, they weave in and out of the rockrose shrubs, scratching all the landscape bark out of the borders, stop in at the horses' paddocks that get oats in their feed (horses digestive tracts are not very efficient: they poop out half the oats we feed them and the chickens have a ball picking them out of the manure).
On their way back from their wanderings, after a busy morning scavenging grain, bugs, and worms, they stop in at the covered arena for a well deserved sand bath.  For those of you who haven't seen a chicken dust bathe: they contort into funny positions, mostly pancaked into the sand, scratching sprays of dirt into their feathers, twisting their neck, wiggling themselves further into the sand.  It's hilarious.  Watch the spray below: