2 week old chicks... dust bath?

[gstone]

hey, I was sitting and watching my 2 week old baby chicks, like I do. and I noticed one of them burrowing in the wood shavings and fluffing them up under her wings and such. It looked like she was trying to give her self a dust bath! Do 2 week olds do this?!

 

[gryeyes]

Oh, yes, they do! And isn't it adorable to watch???

Simply amazing the amount of instinctual chicken-y things they know how to do, when there's no mama chicken to show them!

I love watching the Chicken Dance scratching in the litter (and on the ground when they're outside) as little ones.

 

[gritsar]

Yep, two week olds do it, one week olds do it. Chickens love their dust baths. Bring em in a shallow box of some dirt or sand. They'll love it.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

One time I had a little bantam hen who was confined to a wire cage while she incubated a clutch of eggs. The day after her chicks hatched I let her out into a secure grass-floored pen. I took a hand spade and dug up a little patch of grass so she could have access to some dirt. The hen almost immediately scurried over to the dirt hole and settled herself in for a long-overdue dust bath. Her chicks clustered around the edge of the hole, and I could imagine their conversations:
"Hey Mom, whatcha doin?"
"I'm taking a dust bath, dear."
"A dust bath? What's a dust bath? Can I have a dust bath too? Can I? Can I? Pleeeeeeeeese?"
"Oh no dear, let Mommy finish first, it's been so long since I had a dust bath and I really need -- oof! Well, now you've jumped in here, just give me some room--"
"Hey guys, look! Mom's taking a dust bath and said I could come in too! Come on, there's room for all of us!"
And all of the chicks pile into the dirt hole, crowding out the hen until she's standing forlornly on the edge, looking down with an expressive glance that says:
"I have GOT to get a lock for that bathroom door!"

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

 

[harrisville chicken]

Little chicks love dust baths too. A little bit of dry peat moss was my girls' favorite when they were chicks.

 

[gstone]

I brought home some beach sand (from the ocean). Do you think it's okay? I am a little concerned about the salt? Would just plain dirt work? Sounds... dirty.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Plain ol' dirty dirt works fine

My chickens have a "dust bath" under their coop, under my DH's bike shed, under the storm cellar and about five other places favored for dustbathing.

 

[RM44]

If you have your babies in a smaller pen, you can always just get a new kitty litter box and fill it with play sand. That's what I did when mine were in the brooder (and before I moved them outside where they have access to the ground). They will eat the sand; don't be alarmed. I wouldn't use beach sand for that reason. Beach sand is salty and full of nasties that are present in the shore water at the beach.

 

[Island of Misfits]

Hello, so I put a box of dirt in the brooder for my 2 1/2 week old chicks. They love it! My only concern is that it seems like they eat the dirt, are they to young for this? The bag of grit I got says not to give to them until 4-6 weeks"