Mother Nature decided to play an April Fool’s joke on the Northeast.  For most, it started last night and was forecasted to continue through today.  Just when we thought that Winter was over, more snow settled in over the Northeast.  Fortunately, for Cape Cod, we had a mix of sleet and rain.

Yesterday, the bad weather was not forecasted to start until late afternoon.  I did not bother to recover the coop with the tarp.  It was in the 40’s and the chickens do like the rain,  besides the coop could use a rinse from Mother Nature.

Before I could return home from picking my son up at school, stronger bursts of rain fell from the sky.  As I pulled into the driveway, it was raining pretty hard.  The kids and I had a bet to see if the chickens were still outside in the run.  I was hoping they weren’t.  However, there they were, out in the rain.  I got the kids in the house and then decided that I needed to cover up the run.  I could not believe what I saw; soaked chickens!

Dust and dirt covered the chickens from head to toe.  Their feathers were coated with dark rich dirt.  They looked awful.  They must have forgotten what rain was.  Even worse, Oyster Cracker was attempting to bathe herself in a dust bowl of wet dirt.  I felt so bad.  I was worried about my chickens.   Would they ever be clean again?  I was also worried about them going to bed with wet feathers.  I did not want them to get sick.  I covered the run and later in the evening returned to lock the coop. I knew that those dirty chickens would have to wait until Saturday for spa treatments from Mom.  At this point, there was nothing that I could do.

This morning, as they emerged from the coop, they ran into the run.  They were clean.  Their combs were bright red.  They were happy. The girls must have cleaned themselves.  I could not believe my eyes!  Time and time again, those chickens surprise me.  I never would have believed anyone that told me how dirty they were the day before.  Amazingly, the chickens have done it again.  I am speechless.