Chick dust bath?

[k626]

I've got 3, two week old barred rock pullets who seem to be trying to dust bathe in the pine shavings. Could I use the chinchilla dust bath for them, or is there a magic formula y'all use? First time with chicks here, and I'm just trying to do it right.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Some acidic wood ashes help retard mite growth, and some people add DE (personally, I think wood ashes are cheaper and just as effective, but if you don't have a furnace, I suppose it makes sense to buy DE.)

I don't know what's in your chinchilla dust bath, but I doubt it would hurt anything. Are there any active ingredients, or is it just sandy dirt?

 

[k626]

I don't have a chinchilla, but being in south Florida, nobody has a furnace lol. I can get de from the feed store pretty cheap. The dust bath is either finely ground up pumice or aluminum silicate? I'm wondering if I couldn't just get the sand out of my horse stall now that I think of it......

 

[sylviethecochin]

I just googled it. Apparently, aluminum silicate's pretty beneficial as a litter, and pumice is also used, often as an absorbent. Either sounds good to me.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Just add some dirt in with them,atleast six or seven inches deep,enough for them to dig through and get enough to throw around.Wood ashes can be mixed in.Wouldnt add DE.Its uneffective and have heard very bad for the lungs.As well is wood ashes which is why you don’t need to many ashes.Try permtithian dust.It isn’t as effective as the spray but still helps kill off a couple or deter them.

Basic dust bathes are just to loosen up the feathers and to try and shake any bugs (lice or mites),they can just shake off a few,and it doesn’t kill them,best to add something in it.

 

[k626]

Seems like it's all ok then. When you say permethrin dust, are you referring to sevin dust (from the garden section)? These are chicks, so I don't want to put anything in that could hurt them.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Sorry for correcting spelling, but it's *permethrin dust if you want to google it.

EDT: Sevin is pretty toxic. I wouldn't use that except in extreme circumstances--I'd have to have a really bad mite infestation for me to use it.

EDT2: and yeah, sorry that was unclear--permethrin is safe for poultry and is definitely not the same thing as sevin, which has active ingredient carbaryl.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Permethrin is not seven dust.Permethin isn’t as toxic.

 

[k626]

So permethrin dust in the pan with sand from my stall would be ok? I've got a rooster currently (he was dumped on the next block a few years ago and he grew on us). I could use it for him too.

 

[sylviethecochin]

So permethrin dust in the pan with sand from my stall would be ok? I've got a rooster currently (he was dumped on the next block a few years ago and he grew on us). I could use it for him too.

Sounds good to me.