Dust bath inside or outside

[RustyBucketFarmGirl]

hello there!

Finishing up my run now and I am getting ready to do a dust bath. I hit up a local car dealer and asked for some tires that they were going to scrap. So i got them for FREE and spray painted them pretty colors. I didn’t put one indoors as I thought it would be too messy. AT the moment my shade areas are not water proof so it may get wet in the run.

So, do you have a dust bath inside your coop or in the chicken run area?

Thanks for all the input!

 

[jreardon1918]

Our coop is raised. So, I did a section under it that is a dust bath. And it is sheltered from rain. That is where theu go in the brutal winter months. In the summer. They just dig. This is yesterday just after the rain.

 

[jthornton]

I had a dust bath in the garage when they were in the brooder (pig pen loves to dust bathe) and the entire garage was covered in a fine dust... you make the call.

JT

 

[Chad Oftedal]

How much space do you have inside your coop? I started with mine inside the coop (64 sq. ft) before I had my run complete, but now I have it outside in the run. My run is fully covered so it stays dry. I built mine off of some plans I found on the internet. It gets used a fair amount and also seems to be the "water cooler" section of the run where the girls just like to hang out and rest - they sit on the top lip of the box.

What I have noticed is that even though they have it available, and make good use of it, they still find other places to scratch away the litter and make a bare spot or hole. I'd just try and keep them in the driest spots you have available and be prepared for them to take what you have set up for them as a suggestion, but not a requirement.

 

[aart]

Mine dust bathe all over the run, mostly under the coop where there is less bedding and it usually stays dry and thawed in winter. I do save out some dry soil in fall then put it in a bin in coop if the ground freezes under coop...they have to be pretty hard up to use it tho.