I had a little bit of a panic today. I was spot checking the chickens (pick up one or two out of the twelve at random and check under the wings), and on the second check, found that Magic’s under feathers were coated in muck and debris. I called my eldest for assistance (well, texted), and we did a full check of all the chickens. Magic was the only one with the mud in her feathers. We didn’t see creepy crawlies in there, and it smelled like mud. I dusted some diatomaceous earth under her wings and let her go with the others.

It did rain last night, for the first time in a month, and it looked for all the world as if she tried for a dust bath and instead got a mud bath.

On the evening check, most of the debris was gone from under her wings, so I think she did try for an impersonation of a mud hen. I’ll still keep an eye on her though.