cheap and easy dust bath?

[phaethona]

Hi,
my backyard flock free ranges during the day on our lot. they forage in the grass, but we also have several large areas that where my dogs have trampeled and it's bare ground. our soil here is very clay rich, when it's dry it becomes very hard packed with a very thin layer of loose dirt on top, but not quite enough for them to dust bathe in. So I've thought about getting a couple cat litter boxes or turkey roasting pans and making them a nice dust bath. my objective is to keep it simple and not so pricey. any ideas?
thanks!

 

[KellyHM]

Either of those would be fine. I use to use the covered cat litter boxes for nest boxes when I first got my chickens...they loved it!

 

[phaethona]

oops! I think I worded that question all wrong, what I'm wondering is what to put in to make the dust bath. I've heard a lot of people say to use DE, so I think I'll have to get some of that, but what else should I use?

 

[jbowyer01]

I've used a cardboard box like the six packs of cokes come in. Put a little dirt and ash in it and let them go. It was easy to clean just throw it away! Mine loved it.

 

[KellyHM]

LOL, I would just use some sand or nice dirt if you can find some. They're not picky. I don't bother with DE, but I have sprinkled Sevin Dust in their dirt baths before when I saw mites.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

You can scrap up the loose dirt in your yard, or get a bag of sand - play sand would work. Dump in box or litter pan and add your DE.

 

[HLAC]

I just throw a couple of shovels full of regular dirt into a upturned garbage can lid for the dustbath. I also sprinkle a little sevin in the dirt to kill mites and whatnot.

 

[goldenluver]

old pot with dried out potting soil if you have any also works they like that as well as sand,just mix what you can find into it.

 

[12GAGirl]

My flock makes their own dust pot holes in their run so I don't fix anything special for them in that dept.

 

[phaethona]

thanks guys! I went out and tried some old potting soil, but they were more interested in eating it, then it occured to me that it's miracle grow and probably has fertilizers in it so I took it away. I think I'll pick up a bag or two of play sand this evening and see how that works.