Dust bath question

[Duckfarmer1]

My chickens are free range so they find spots all over! Drives DH crazy! They really love to get in the ashes about 2 days after we burn branches. They make a major ash cloud when they are done

Yeah, mine did the same...but now that it’s winter...I have to provide that stuff...just wondering if the sand is ok

 

[glassdragonfly]

I think if you were to mix sand, ash and dirt it would be fine.

 

[chickens really]

I have a covered run and my Run is sand. My chickens dig holes to bath in so I just go along behind them filling holes.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Grit must have angular edges and be of a suitable size for the duck or chicken or baby duck or chick. It is sold at feed stores in adult size grit and chick size grit.

If you wish to use your local soil or sand, look at the particles under a magnifying lens to be sure they are not rounded which would make it useless as grit. Think in terms of sharp garbage disposal blades in a chicken's or duck's gizzard.

Doing the best I can here in Panama azygous. They don't sell 'grit' of any variety at the feed stores here. I go to the hardware store and buy the cheap construction sand (no dyes, no chemical treatments, and inconsistently sized sand); That in conjunction with the volcanic sand and rock in the yard is the best that I can offer them. It could be better, but I'm sure it could be worse too.
I used to take a box of rocks back to the store for a replacement bag of sand, seriously, as they've sold it as sand (which is quite a bit more expensive) than the rocks they've left buried in it. Rocks so large that it's not even suitable for concrete work. For the past decade or so, they just dump the bags and SIFT it before filling them for me now, they KNOW that I'll be back with a box of rocks otherwise.