- Apr 13, 2011
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We have five 18 weeks old hens (Barred Rock, RIR, Buff Orpington and 2 Americaunas) in a large chicken tractor and I have yet to see them dust bathe. We move the tractor each week to a fresh area and they "free range" in our back yard for several hours every afternoon. I have even resorted to setting up "dust bathing areas" 3 different times in their tractor hoping to encourage the dust bathing. I used a mixture of play sand, ash, DE and dirt and they totally ignore it! Walk through it, peck in it, but no dust bathing. We have a lot of hard red clay and grassy areas but no loose soil or dusty areas. Anyone ever heard of chicken not dust bathing at all? Is that bad?
