Chickens don’t want to use dust bath!

[mojojojojo]

Hi, I’m a new chicken keeper, just got four young pullets in mid june 2021, they are currently 4 months old as of mid Aug 2021. They are supposed to be 2 golden comets and 2 australorps. The two australorps are mostly black with some white feathers and one of them has especially fluffy feet, the other one has wayy more red feathers around the neck.

I specially bought a kiddy pool and filled that with dirt and sand. Drilled plenty of holes in the bottom. The kiddy pool is about 8” tall i guess. I always fill the pool with dirt/sand about 3” deep.

First i tried with DE, dirt and some sand. about a 1:2:1 ratio respectively. apparently the rain tends to clump it all up and i often have to use a stick to separate it when it’s drained and dries and use the stick again....

now that didn’t seem to work so well, so i dumped it all out and bought playsand, and DE, about 3:1 ratio respectively... this worked fine for awhile but after a big storm everything clumps up again...

the brown pullets do explore the dust bath more, the black ones just keep pecking at it. The brown pullets have been seen scratching at the sand several times. On a rare occasion i have seen the brown ones try to dust bathe in there and the black ones just keep walking around it. One day i saw them actually burrowing into the dry dirt underneath one of my wooden posts. Orange ones would fluff the dirt and lay sideways but the black ones kinda just sit there and chilled. I spend a lot of time with my chickens and that dust bathing only happened one time. I’m not too worried about where they want to create a dust bath, just not trying to encourage the bathing right underneath the post since the post is only 2 feet deep.

These pullets were with older chickens when they were younger than 2 months old, i’m not sure how much they learnt from the other chickens, but now they are in the coop and run by themselves so i’m not sure how else to teach them that. the rest of the time they just walk around the run and sit in shaded areas. I live in south carolina so it’s mostly warm and occasional thunderstorms. their coop and run happened to be positioned on a part of land that was somewhat uneven, i have placed the dust bath container on the higher part of the slope so it doesn’t sit in the part that floods after a heavy storm.

It’s troublesome to keep “unclumping” the stuff in the container, and they also started to poop in it. Question, do chickens try to not poop in bathing areas?? or is that normal?? Are they pooping in it because they don’t consider that a bathing zone??

The pictures of the dust bath are weeks ago, but it seems like they might have liked it more??? I changed to sand because i felt it wouldn’t clump as much... The very first picture was just taken this weekend, supervised free ranging.

Thankful for all advice regarding dust bathing!

 

[Perris]

hello @mojojojojo , welcome to BYC

They will make dustbaths where they think the dirt is best for their cleaning purposes. Could you just go with that? Alternatively, your pool dustbath may be more successful if you rig up some cover, so that it doesn't get rained on, and you add a lot more dirt (not too much DE; respiratory issues can result) or old bonfire ashes (trad ingredient for this). They want something they can nestle down in as well as throw over themselves, and prefer a more confined space/dip than the pool currently offers.

I don't think either of your 'australorps' are pure bred; compare with this https://learnpoultry.com/australorp-chickens/ .
I don't know what a golden comet is supposed to look like, so can't help with them.

 

[nuthatched]

Try filling in with normal old dusty dirt. It's cheap and easy.
DE can help against parasites like lice, mites and fleas but it can cause respiratory issues and since chickens spend a lot of time with their heads in dirt, most keepers skip it.
At first I think the black one with red coming in is a black sex link but it almost looks like a cockerel becaause I think I see male feathers coming in. Can you get pictures of the side of that ones tail? it could be a Copper Maran cockerel.

 

[RojoMarz]

I have a plastic doghouse, with wood ash inside, that is supposed to be used for dust baths. They lounge in it but also dig holes in the dirt. One of the girls thinks it's a nest box, as someone is laying eggs in there.

 

[Perris]

I made a frame with wood offcuts and put some leftover onduline over the top. It doesn't need to be watertight, just to stop rain drenching it. A tarpaulin would do if you can elevate the middle and don't live somewhere as exposed to wind as I do

 

[pennyJo1960]

Welcome the birds will make wholes in the ground when they want a dust bath I need to be careful the coop floor is dirt and they often do it inside leaving craters i can't see

 

[Iluveggers]

Go over to the pool & scold them. Tell them, “No! You can’t go in here!” Guarantee they’ll be in it in an hour.

J/K. I agree you need a cover of some sort for the rain, maybe a tarp or large umbrella? If you could cover it completely when rain is in the forecast, even better. And wood ashes are awesome if you have something to burn & collect once it’s cooled.

 

[Cecisflock]

I don't know what a golden comet is supposed to look like, so can't help with them.

"Golden Comets" Are just red sex links

 

[BigBlueHen53]

According to homeguides.sfgate.com/diatomaceousearth, DE is affected by moisture and loses its sharp microscopic edges when wet. They state that it must be replaced after every rain. Or, one would assume, dewfall.

Our chickens found a sandy spot in the yard that, years (decades!) ago used to be a sandbox for children; they are now using it to dust bathe in. We heat our house partially with a wood stove and have collected the ashes in an old bathtub kept in a dry place. We've added some of these hardwood ashes into their sandbox and they love it. We don't seem to have a problem with mites.

I think all your chickens really need is sand in a spot that will drain well. Good luck!

 

[saysfaa]

They did have an issue with some white dots clusters at the base of neck feathers in June July so i was really trying to spray them down with appropriate stuff and encourage them to use dust bath too. After 3 rounds of the spray the white dots have lessened soo much. I don’t know if it was mites or lice. i think i did see a tiny translucent white insect scurry among the feathers of a black one, but it’s really hard to tell since chickens don’t really stay still for you to look carefully.

I worried about some white dots on the feathers of my australorps. Then I realized they were the bits of feather shafts from replacing their feathers. It may not be your issue, though. I didn't see any transluscent insects. Some the bits did seem to jump around, though, maybe because they were so light weight.

Sand, like play sand or builders sand, should not clump anywhere near the point of needing to be broken up.

I think they might have at least a small preference for picking a dust bath location that is not out in wide open spaces. Not too sure about that but it might help a little.