dust bath questions

[deidreg]

I got an old tire free from a local tire shop, then added dirt. You can get topsoil cheap from a garden center. My girls love it.

 

[KyCoop]

I buy dirt in a bag. Organic top soil. A little sand, some wood ash if I have any and maybe a cup or so of DE. You don't have to mix it up much that's their favorite part.

 

[AntiqueB]

The top soil I got had a lot of mulch and rocks in it, which is why I sifted it. All 20 lbs of it. Through a colander. By hand. Probably half of it was useless. Talk about tedious! I didn't have sand, so I just tossed in a cup or so of DE. I will have to add more soil and some sand when it warms up a bit. The advantage to having a bin for them is that I can cover it when it rains.

But they still prefer the hole by the garage!

 

[deidreg]

Yep. Chickens will be chickens. Mine use the tire bath, but they also dug another hole. I do like your solution, though. And at least one likes it, too.

 

[SB16]

Wood ash is great with lice and mites!
Plain old dirt is also good. My chickens use that all the time.
I've heard of people using sand, but have never tested it myself.

A few weeks ago, my Speckled Sussex developed an impacted crop.

I took her to the vet.

They gave her fluids, but refused to do anything else unless I agreed to a $300 x-ray. So, we were sent home with a bottle of antibiotics, a $145 bill and instructions to bring her back in another 10 days for a follow up.

It got worse, despite the crop massages, antibiotics, etc...

After 6 days, my friend and I operated on her - I had no choice really. She was lethargic, her crop was enormous and I couldn't find a vet willing to just perform the surgery.

I had expected to find a huge wad of grass in her crop; instead we spent over an hour squeezing and scooping more than 3 cups of sand from her crop.

I'm on clay, have hardwood mulch in their run, but had put a kiddy pool with play sand in it for their dust baths. She obviously, for whatever reason (they have continuous access to layer pellets, grit and oyster shell), was eating the sand.

Anyway, I pulled the sand out of the run and she's on the mend.

 

[mommiesrcool]

Mine dig dustbathes where ever they want. They use whatever dirt they can find, I don't buy anything.

Yeah mine do the same thing

 

[linguini]

A few weeks ago, my Speckled Sussex developed an impacted crop.

I took her to the vet.

They gave her fluids, but refused to do anything else unless I agreed to a $300 x-ray. So, we were sent home with a bottle of antibiotics, a $145 bill and instructions to bring her back in another 10 days for a follow up.

It got worse, despite the crop massages, antibiotics, etc...

After 6 days, my friend and I operated on her - I had no choice really. She was lethargic, her crop was enormous and I couldn't find a vet willing to just perform the surgery.

I had expected to find a huge wad of grass in her crop; instead we spent over an hour squeezing and scooping more than 3 cups of sand from her crop.

I'm on clay, have hardwood mulch in their run, but had put a kiddy pool with play sand in it for their dust baths. She obviously, for whatever reason (they have continuous access to layer pellets, grit and oyster shell), was eating the sand.

Anyway, I pulled the sand out of the run and she's on the mend.

That's a scary story! I am a new chooks mom - I just replaced the flooring in their run with sand. I thought they all ingest sand/grits which end up in their gizzard?

 

[SB16]

That's a scary story! I am a new chooks mom - I just replaced the flooring in their run with sand. I thought they all ingest sand/grits which end up in their gizzard?

I truly don't understand why she ate so much and/or why it didn't just pass through. There was nothing in her crop besides the sand (toothpaste like consistency) and a few pieces of grit and oyster shell, so it wasn't caught behind a blockage.

I did see another post on here from a while back from someone with the same issue. That hen was also a Speckled Sussex. Maybe they're prone to pendulous crops? But that wouldn't explain why she ate so much sand to begin with given her access to grit.

My other hens (Australorps, Wellsummer and Easter Eggers) were completely fine.

 

[mowin]

I truly don't understand why she ate so much and/or why it didn't just pass through. There was nothing in her crop besides the sand (toothpaste like consistency) and a few pieces of grit and oyster shell, so it wasn't caught behind a blockage.

I did see another post on here from a while back from someone with the same issue. That hen was also a Speckled Sussex. Maybe they're prone to pendulous crops? But that wouldn't explain why she ate so much sand to begin with given her access to grit.

My other hens (Australorps, Wellsummer and Easter Eggers) were completely fine.

Ok.. I'm so happy you figured it out. But what I want to know is the details of the surgery. Particularly how you stichered her crop up?

 

[SB16]

Ok.. I'm so happy you figured it out. But what I want to know is the details of the surgery. Particularly how you stichered her crop up?

Super Glue. The original, not the gel.

There were two incisions. One through the skin and one through the crop; each was glued separately and then there was a smear over the top.

It worked beautifully.