Best Dust Bath / Dust Bathing Materials

[SeaChick]

the young pullets I have seen dustbathing seem to get, well, sort of stoned, or drunk...... It's like this instinct kicks in that they cannot snap out of. If they're moved from the dust bath area they still just lay there flopping about on the grass as though they were still dust bathing. And they have a different peep when they're in the dirt, a sort of rusty-hinge squeak that they only use at dust bath times. It is absolutely hilarious to watch. Anyone else notice these things?

 

[kcpaull]

I was digging a post hole yesterday and it was sandy soil with lots of organic material in it and because I had put water in the hole to soften our rain deprived soil, it was moist. I put it in a cat litter jug with the side cut out and put it in the coop for my 7 week old chicks. At first, they were suspicious as they had never seen soil before, then they pecked at it as though they were eating pieces of roots and sand. The next thing I knew, there were three of them in there together looking like they were having seizures with the other 4 looking on in envy. I put some dry soil in another box and they used it a little, but they much preferred the damper soil. I'm going to put a cement mixing tub from Home Depot with some of the things listed in the original post in there today and see how they like it. I have some food grade DE I can put in there, too. Knowing these chickens, they will want their original dirt back. The "wild" hen that comes around occasionally, likes to dust bathe in the shade under a bunch of huge red tips where we dump grass cuttings. She scratches everything away and wallows in the moist dirt underneath.