Dirt, dirt, dirt?????????

[HELPPLS]

I'm trying to figure out how to do a chicken dust bath area in their coop. I ran across something, somewhere on here, where a guy used an old tire. My problem is getting the dirt to fill a tire up. Can I used bagged dirt from a store? Like some top soil or something? It says it has ash and top soil and one other thing in it. I don't have anywhere I can big a dig hole to fill up a tire. I want them to have a dust bathing area so hopefully they don't dig it up too bad inside their coop and run. We are building a chicken tractor as well for them. It's 10' square. I know I can use some sand and ash (which I have to burn a fire to get asa the rain stops). They prefer dirt though. They are still young, about 4 weeks or so, but any sand I put out they eat ALL of it. If I put top soil I scraped up here and there they roll in it and bathe in it. I can't scrape up enough to keep up with them. I plan on making them a tire swing in their run too. They love the stick swing. Any ideas would be helpful. Or is it safe to use the bagged dirt that doesn't have added fertilizer?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I sometimes use one of those black plastic concrete mixing tubs. They are pretty shallow but work OK if you don't mind a little mess.

Sand, feed-grade diatomaceous earth, and woodstove ashes are what I use. I don't bother with dirt, as they already have dirt holes everywhere.

For the woodstove ashes, a spark can exist even up to one month later, I have read, so make sure your ashes are very very old and cold since plastic is flammable. I put my ashes in an old fire pit first and let them age before I move them or shake them anywhere. This fire pit is NOT inside the coop but is under shelter outside.

You can even use one of those giant flower pots- I saw that on someone's webpage.

There is a "show me pictures of your dirtbaths" thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/701021/share-your-pictures-of-dust-dirt-baths

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/565254/update-with-pics-the-bathing-experiment-dirt-or-sand

 

[HELPPLS]

Thank you so much. I looked through several things to find the answers I was looking for with not much luck. This was helpful. Thank you very much.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Thank you so much. I looked through several things to find the answers I was looking for with not much luck. This was helpful. Thank you very much.

You are welcome and enjoy your chickens!