Chickens, if you have never seen it, take dust baths instead of water baths. A good part of the Silkie crew's sunshiney day is spent in digging out good bathing spots. The spots have to have just the right size grains of dirt in it, no sticks or twigs or anything pokey, and be dry. Many dust baths are single chicken sized, but the best areas, like under the Pin Oak, are multi chicken bath extravaganzas. Today it took me quite a while to figure out exactly how many roosters were in this particular bath - partly because they are silkies and their feathers don't hang the same way on their bodies, making them into fluffy little feather dusters, and partly because they were having a great time and all I could see was a flurry of feathers, a comb here and there, and many feet poking out sideways and occasionally straight up. In this picture? There are 4 roosters.
I would also take this as proof that Silkie roos are possibly the most docile male chickens to be found. Their fights are very half hearted when they happen, and most of the time they seem to enjoy hanging out together quite a bit.
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