Chicken Update

Before the chicken update, I just have to share my laundry pictures. I'm so excited to have my clothes line fixed, and praying it holds this time. Since I have my clothes line, my 5 year old decided she needed one of her own.



I found this one in the lilac bush near mine. :) So sweet! It's being used again today. My 7 year old hung laundry on it while I was hanging a load today. This time it was clean and part of the load I was hanging. The clothes in this picture aren't clean. Dani explained to me that she wanted some laundry to hang on it, so she got some dirty clothes wet so she could hang them. :) They just do the cutest things!



After spending about an hour and a half today just watching my flock (which I should do much more often) I have found out what's going on. Today it all became clear. The incessant scratching (which I noticed for the first time today), the broken feathers and bald rears, the general ragged, fluffy appearance of their plumage...MITES! So that's at least part of what's going on. After about an hour and a half of observation, I've figured out that they must have pulled their own feathers out. They're not picking on each other at all, only themselves.
Dan always says that it's my job to see anything unusual about the animals because he doesn't notice things like that. Well, I've failed my job! This seems like something I should have picked up on sooner. But, now what? As soon as it dawned on me that mites were the culprit, I added sand and wood ashes to their favorite dust bath spot. I really have no idea what else to do at this point. I'm going to do some research to see if I can find any answers. If anyone has any suggestions for me, I'm oh so ready to hear them! Thanks! :) And hugs to all you smart homesteader types!