Chick dust bathing in food?

[Mccluckers]

Hi there

My 6 day old barred rock cross araucana chick is dust bathing in the food container what shall I do?

Thanks

 

[chooks4life]

Laugh! Or smile, anyway. I always found their antics amusing.

Seriously, I guess what you should do is get them some sand or dirt to dustbathe in. It's how they mechanically control their parasites. Their other natural parasite control methods include eating hot things and plants with chemical components that function as anthelmintics etc.

If you get dirt, it will likely carry cocci, so you'd need to add raw garlic to their feed to prevent that becoming an issue. I'd use grains/seeds that have been soaked overnight, so they're more nutritious, and add freshly minced raw garlic to it, even if you're giving them medicated crumble already, because the crumble alone won't guarantee no cocci cases. Cocci is a fact of life, they need to build immunity not be protected so they can't.

Best wishes.

 

[Mccluckers]

Thanks a lot I have already given them a clump of ground in their brooder will they be alright ?

 

[chooks4life]

I can't say for sure they will be alright because I don't know what's in that dirt or how strong their immune systems are. But it's pretty easy to help them out, just giving them garlic does it.

Best wishes.