Since Butterscotch has been broody she has only taken a few seconds of dust flicking as her token dust bath.
I haven’t seen her come out of the nest box on her own at all but I am getting her out four times a day. I get her out for the morning sunflower seeds, again at lunch time, once more a few hours later and then again for the bedtime corn.
Today when I got her out for the third time she took herself straight into the run for a proper dust bath. It was so good to see her having a proper dust bath and I am sure she wouldn’t have done this without me getting her out.
It’s almost as if when I get her out she feels she has permission to go and eat, drink, scratch or dust bath. She sits on the patio in the spot that I put her down then when I give her a gentle push she takes off at speed to get her jobs done as quickly as possible.
Butterscotch takes a proper dust bath
She covers herself in dust
At such speed that she is blurred
Barley is always so interested in what Butterscotch is doing
You would be forgiven for thinking that Butterscotch had popped her clogs in this one
Here she is in dead chicken mode with a concerned Barley looking on, except of course we know that she is having a blissful moment and Barley is just helping. Barley scratches around her and straightens her feathers and flicks dirt from her.
Being broody may be doing her a favour at the moment. The pin feathers on her head are growing and while she is safely tucked away in the nest box all day Topaz has no chance to pull her pins out. I am hoping that her feathers will grow in while she is broody and this will give her a chance to keep her feathers.
On some of these photos you can just see some pins on her head although it is more difficult to see in a photo than in real life. I hope she will get enough feathers to cover her head.
I am quite used to the broody routine now and I think she is getting used to it too. She is an easy to handle broody girl so I don’t mind the routine at all.
Click here to see the history of my flock.