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.