Top Soil for a dust bath?

[gtaus]

(my hope is to come up with some sort of "free range" scenario - more like a very large extended run that doesn't have a top (more like a fenced area), attached to the run they have now.

Just scared to death of hawks, etc.

My chicken run is not covered, in terms of a roof, but I stretched out light weight bird netting across the chicken run. In 3+ years of use, I have had no aerial attacks. And I live on a lake with hawks and Bald Eagles overhead all the time. So, I consider the use of bird netting as a success.

Amazon has all kinds and sizes of bird netting. I get my netting local from our Fleet store and a 13X13 foot net costs me about $8.00.

As to free ranging, I don't let my chickens free range because of the hawks and Bald Eagles overhead all the time. But I do bring the free range to my chicken run. All my fresh grass clippings, leaves, weeds pulled from the gardens, etc... gets tossed into my chicken run. My chickens are plenty happy and stay outside all day scratching and pecking through everything looking for bugs and worms to eat. Plus, they are safe under the bird netting.

 

[Bladester]

Hi Fill dirt this is in the run consists of a mixture of broken down rocks, clay and sand. It contains little fertility for plants to grow, or any organic matter and can create small, light particles of dust which make it easy for a chicken to spread around on or under their feathers and wings. The topsoil contains filtered organic matter and contains moisture which some chickens do not like to use; they prefer dry dirt. Cheers!

 

[kbroom]

If they like it, I wouldn't hesitate to use it. The only thing like this I avoid is anything treated with pesticides/herbicides or anything dyed (like colored mulch). I bought a bale of peat moss this summer (after someone on here suggested it) and my hens love to roll in it. They won't touch any kind of sand. But they still prefer to find their own bare patch of dirt in the yard or garden for their dust baths. Silly chickens.

I'm wondering if some dirt mixed with diatomaceous earth might now be good?

 

[gtaus]

I'm wondering if some dirt mixed with diatomaceous earth might now be good?

There is some controversy about using diatomaceous earth with your chickens. Some say it's completely safe, but others say that it can damage the lungs. I have heard of people mixing wood ash in with dirt for dust baths. I just let my birds dig their dust baths in the soil or compost in the chicken run.

My chickens don't have a problem with mites. DE might be a better option to treat your chickens if they have mites to deal with. Like most things, you need to weigh the pros and cons of the treatment.

 

[Nodakj]

My chickens don't have a problem with mites.

Are mites a problem that i need to be concerned about here in MN ?

 

[bhaugh]

I buy organic mulch from the garden center. Works great and is fairly cheap. Be careful buying soil that isn't organic because many soils today have human waste in them. I'm not an organic stob but when I was reading about garden soils to use last year, I read that and thought yuck!. Companies like Scott's don't tell customers what they use so it's risky imo. They don't have the best reputation amount some gardners

 

[gtaus]

@Nodakj, I have not seen any signs of mites in my birds. I'm about 4 hours north of Minneapolis. Don't know if it due to cold weather, or what.