How do you make a dust bath?

TheSpiceGirls · Apr 19, 2016

velmajr said:
My coop isn't big enough to fit a dust bath inside. Is it pointless to put one outside where it will get rained on? I'm on north island of NZ and we have very temperate winters, but lots of rain.

I've seen people use big tubs w/ lids. Here in the states, you can buy sand boxes for kids that have lids. Just cover it up when the hens are done dust bathing. Dust bathing areas don't have to be fancy. Chickens won't care.

palaeosam · Aug 28, 2016

This thread has been really handy. Ours were trying to bathe in the dustier parts of the wood chips that line their floor but with limited success so, this afternoon, we took a drive to our local feed store and picked up a few kilos of sand & diatomaceous earth (from the vet section of the feed store). We had the earth already. I wanted to get some wood ash too but this was not to be. One apple crate and a roll of grease proof paper later and we had a working dust bath. I've put my birdies to bed (it's dusk here already) and put their bath in position ready for dawn. I'm hoping they get used to it quickly.

Hooked on Chooks · Sep 3, 2017

I've just made a dust bath for my 5 chickens this afternoon and filled it with sawdust only for now. I will add in the mite/lice stuff when I purchase some tomorrow. I don't have access to wood ash. However, my chickens seem to only be eating the sawdust and I haven't yet seen one bath in it yet!
Will it take a few days till they figure it all out? And is it ok if they eat some of the sawdust? (It is chemical free...)

How do you make a dust bath?

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