Bathing

[cravenchx]

I know chickens like to take dust baths, do you need
to supply "extra dust" in the run? My neighbor has
an old green sandbox turtle, and he has told us to take
it. I thought about letting the girls use it for baths. What
do you guys think?

 

[Kathleen1115]

I'd do it, but don't think you have to. They'll dig themselves holes - or in our case large trenches that the humans twist their ankles in - but our girls love anything new that has dirt in it. We put a big wash tub with marigolds planted in it in their yard and after they ate all the plants they rolled around in the tub for a few weeks.

 

[Nicole01]

My run is now all construction sand. There use to be grass, but they quickly eaten and destroyed all the grass. They scratched all the dirt underneath(which wasn't much) and found more sand. They have their favorite places where they dig themselves deep holes. I throw 2 hansfuls of homemade scratch every morning in the sand for a treat. I do free range supervised 1-3 times a day, so they do get to eat grass, weeds, and bugs. My chickens seem to be really happy!

The sand makes it very easy to clean the poop out! I use a kitty litter box scooper.

 

[7L Farm]

I usually throw my wood ash in the run. They mixs it in the sand.

 

[cravenchx]

Quote:
Thanks, I think it will be fun to watch!