Best dust bath to provide? Mite prevention?

[efowl24]

My girls will be moving into their coop soon, currently the run is all grass, so not much dirt to dust bathe in yet. What should I provide them with in the meantime? Top soil mixed with sand? I see conflicting opinions on DE, so not sure what to do there. What is the best to prevent mites? I see permethrin being used a lot for mites, but that scares me because I don't want my cats coming into contact with it. Thought?

 

[DobieLover]

Dig a hole where it will stay dry and dump a bag of cheap topsoil in it. That's all they need. Just dirt.

 

[rosemarythyme]

If prevention is the key word then elemental sulfur supposedly works for mites, but I don't know if that's safe for cats. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-for-the-chickens-coop.1351484/#post-22277802

As DobieLover mentioned access to a plain dirt dust bath is perfectly suitable in most cases as it allows birds to smother parasites on their feathers or skin so that things don't blow up into a big infestation.

 

[nuthatched]

Plain dirt helps prevention as musg ad anything else and there's less harmful side effects like other things.

 

[FeatherToes0328]

Plain dirt helps prevention as musg ad anything else and there's less harmful side effects like other things.

I live in central Florida, close to beaches. Our native 'dirt' here is basically what I call sand-dirt or dirty sand. My girls just dig a hole in the coop (which already has FS Lime and DE within it) and that's where they dust bathe.

 

[nuthatched]

I live in central Florida, close to beaches. Our native 'dirt' here is basically what I call sand-dirt or dirty sand. My girls just dig a hole in the coop (which already has FS Lime and DE within it) and that's where they dust bathe.

You have great bathing soil already, skip the lime and the de.

 

[FeatherToes0328]

You have great bathing soil already, skip the lime and the de.

There is already DE & lime in the coop anyway so I totally agree!

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

A note in the FSLime-I have been using it to keep mold down on the ground where the chickens spill feed. A few days of good rain was growing me a fuzzy mat under the feeders but scraping it away and applying FSL put an end to that. My chickens don’t have a designated dirt bath but they manage to do it in the clay-rich soil that has been freshly disturbed near their coop. I tried to make them a spot but they ignored it. Of course. My last flock was in their run most of the day and I put an old flower pot with sand in there because chickens love destroying things in flower pots. That worked well.

 

[nuthatched]

There is already DE & lime in the coop anyway so I totally agree! .

I don't think I'm being clear.
The lime and especially de are bad for you and especially the birds to breathe. It's not good for parasite control, it's can cause dry skin and feather breakage and scars the respiratory system