dust bathing for babies

[emjay]

at what age can one put a dust bathing box in for the wee ones?

can one use sand with DE mixed in ??


and probiotic yogurt is good for babies too right? helps prevent pasty butt ??

 

[Robo]

They can dust bathe at about 2-3 weeks old. I put red grit and sand in there for them.

 

[sharol]

I made a dust bath for mine at about 2 weeks. They love it. I added a little DE a couple of days later. It is dirt, sand, some fireplace ashes, and a little DE. The girls have been going out in the run this week (since they turned 3 weeks old), and when I put them back in the brooder, they all pile into the dirt bath. In fact, I have to replace the dirt mixture every 3 or 4 days to keep them happy. I can't believe how dirty they get and what a short time it takes for them to shake the dirt off (and into the air and their food and their water).

I haven't seen any ill effects from the dirt bath or the DE. They are growing like bad weeds in August.

 

[Mahonri]

Mine started trying to dirt bath at between 2 and 3 weeks.

 

[tobin123]

Our chicks start the same to,but ????what is DE??????Sorry husband isn't here to answer for me.

 

[sharol]

Quote:
diatomaceous earth (sp may not be right). It is the discarded shells of "diatoms" in the ocean. The stuff is like fine ground glass, you have to be sure not to breathe it, but it does a job on parasites, and the birds seem to know that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth has more info on it.

 

[Dark4]

Can I use reptile vita sand?

 

[mcostas]

what about the yougurt?

 

[BlackBart]

My Mother Hen took her chicks dustbathing asap. She took them dustbathing in one of my flower pots near my front door. They would stuff themselves all in the pot together. Trashed the flowers

My chicks eat what their Mother eats and I feed them yogurt sometimes.

 

[emjay]

well, I caught my one week old garage baby, dustbathing in it's food dish. hhmmmm, I guess, I best hurry and build them a proper sand box.

and they LOVED the yogurt, cleaned the dish clean.