Dust bathing is a strongly motivated behavioral need in chickens that improves feather condition and provides psychological welfare through natural behavior expression.
Dust bathing is a behavioral need that chickens will express even when the substrate is unavailable, performing vacuum dust bathing on cage wire or hard floors. This vacuum behavior indicates the strength of the motivation and the welfare cost of denial. Providing appropriate substrate enables natural behavior that serves real functions including ectoparasite management and feather maintenance, while also providing positive welfare states.