Dust bath question..........

[TheSpiceGirls]

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[Catstar68]

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Yes.

don't blame you, though.

 

[Ravishaw]

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i know exACTLY what you're saying here... Sometimes the most lavish adornment to a hens coop is a terrifying thing, while a nondescript piece of garbage we forgot to throw out becomes their new favorite perch.

And darned if they still won't eat out of my hand.

 

[ih66series]

lots of sand

 

[kuna-clucker]

Chikins is dumb!

I do like the idea of a mixture of fine sand and D.E. inside a tractor tire though. I think I'm gonna try that!

 

[cabincrazyone]

14 chickens & counting :

What materials do I need to build a dust bath?

I haven't read all the replies in this thread, so forgive me if I'm redundant. I've seen a lot of materials recommended here at BYC, but the ones that seem to make the most sense to me are sphagnum moss (like that sold at green houses), diatomaceous earth (food grade), and sand.​

 

[14 chickens & counting]

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Oh, I love the tire idea. Great way to reuse something and contain the sand.

I like this too!

 

[BeautifulPacificNorthwest]

Dust bath? What is a dust bath?
My chickens chase the goats out of their house and bathe in the straw and wood pellet crumbles. On sunny days, I can't keep them out. It's a little unnerving to pick one up and feel the lumps of wood pellets under their feathers. Silly things...we built a wonderful dust bath area built for them and they prefer the stinky straw mess.

 

[darkmatter]

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I don't mean to hijack the post, but darkmatter, can you tell me more about the wood ashes? I always dump my wood ashes into the compost, do the chickens like them? It doesn't get them all sooty? Is there a benefit?

I got many of my ideas in BC (Before Computers) from Organic Gardening and other traditional methods that were tried and true. Like the sub-ground level dirt floor with Deep Litter Composting and the Mulberry/fruit trees in the run. Wood ash for chicken dust baths were also a old-time convention. The old-timers claim the wood ash was beneficial to prevent lice/mites and other skin problems. It does seem to be that way for me; I've never had skin parasites in my flock. When there is a fresh layer of wood ash in the tractor tire, the birds love to spend a lot of time getting thoroughly dug in and dusted. When they get up and shake their feathers, it looks like a dust cloud with a chicken in the middle of it-------kind of like the cartoon Tasmanian devil traveling in a tornado. They do tend to deplete the wood ash suppy quickly. I dump my ashes in a metal trash can and add to the tire as needed.