Dust bath tips?

AngeliqueR

In the Brooder
Mar 27, 2016
39
6
26
San Dimas
My girls have no interest in the dust bath I made for them. They ignored it completely when it was the size of a nesting box, I reduced the size to a smaller wooden tray. I have dirt, a little sand and DE in there (no access to ash). Every once in a while they will get curious about it but they definitely aren't demonstrating any bathing behavior.

If they won't use it is there another way to safely expose them to DE to keep mites away?
 
I wish I had some tips for you but I have the same problem. My pullets went crazy for their mini dust bath in the brooder but since they've been out in the coop they haven't gotten near the one I provided in the run. I am curious to see if anyone has suggestions other than to wait it out. Mine have been in the coop for two months and I have only seen them dust a few times during their limited free ranging.
 
My 7 day old Golden Laced Wyandotts are already bathing them selves in the pine shavings making a mess so am going to make a little bos with fine sand & DE
 
Yesterday, I brought home four one-day old chicks and put them in a chick pen in my sand run. They were there for all of five minutes when, as I smoothed over some sand near them, they ran over to see what my fingers were doing. Then, since I had drawn their attention to the sand, they hopped into the little hole I had been trying to smooth over, and indulged in their very first "dirt bath".

Chicks rely on cues from their broody hen or their human chick parent to show them stuff. Try raking the dirt bath medium with your finger, showing them it's something they might like to scratch in. They'll quickly get the hint.
 

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