Dust bath pan...best method?

[3peeps]

Hi,

This has probably been discussed ad nauseum, but does anyone have good ideas on providing dust and dirt to chickens who are not free-range?

We have pine shavings in the house and run. No bare dirt anywhere. I put a plastic garbage can lid with sand and dirt in the house and sort of nestled it in the shavings.

They avoided it like a bunch of "big chickens" for a day or two.

I think they're using it now. It seems big enough. Any other container suggestions?

 

[SpottedCrow]

A cat litter box would do good too.

 

[Dawn419]

I used a shallow cardboard box...

Dawn

 

[3peeps]

Ooh...thanks. Both of those sound good. I only have about a thousand of those greenhouse carboard flats laying around....cheap. Catbox would be easy to clean.

 

[devora]

3Peeps:

What's under the pine shavings in the run? Our run is covered in straw but they always create a place to dust bathe there. But The containers sound good, too.

 

[Catalina]

I use a high sided cat litter box. Three sides are higher and the entrance side is lower so they can get in and out easily. The high sides keep the dirt inside the box.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Small kiddie pools work great, too. You can poke a few holes in the bottom, if you'll be putting it where it'll get rained on, so it will drain. Dust bathing seems to be a group activity and a small pool will give them more room.

 

[schmoo]

I use an old plastic sled. Not sure where you live but sleds are a plenty up here.

A low sided plastic storage thingy would work good too.

 

[equine chick]

I have an old muck bucket that is about 2 feet hide and 2 feet wide filled with sawdust. They love it, they all take turns in it.

 

[jkm]

My mom threw a bag of potting soil in the run the other day, and the girls went wild, made up for not being allowed out.