Dust baths

[Kherome]

What do you use for dust baths? Play sand? (Non-silica sand?)

 

[heychickiedoo]

Our chickens use just regular old dirt in our yard (it's pretty unexciting, but they love it!) We like to mix in a little bit of diatomaceous earth every once in a while. Not too much, though, because it can be irritating to their lungs.

 

[burny]

My birds love dirt and a little saw dust.

 

[Rokashan]

I make a mixture of 8 parts play sand to 2 parts dried coffee grounds. Our birds go nuts for it.

 

[Kherome]

Decaf or regular? Haha

 

[Invision]

I cut a 5 gallon bucket in half then cut a door out of it, put a 1/4 cup of DE in and sift normal dirt through 1/4" hardware cloth. My quail think it's catnip. lounge, roll there eyes into the back of there heads, spread their wings all the way out and feet stretched as far back as they can go... Crazy birds, then when they are done, they are pretty much white and passed out. Over stimulating I guess

 

[iawoodchip]

Correct me if I'm wrong. I was under the impression a dust bath is a chicken's way of keeping lice & fleas off. And that wood ash was one of the best additives.
Jim

 

[BrianKinlaw]

I let my chickens out into the garden everyday. the soil is always tilled up so it makes a perfect "Dirt Bath"... Yup just plain ole dirt is good enough and I was thinking because summer is almost over I will till up the chicken yard as it's hard as a rock, I know they will enjoy this as it full of earth worms.

 

[Invision]

Don't see why you couldn't, put a little pile in the coop/run and see what happens. Don't think it's any smaller than DE.

 

[Kherome]

I thought if you let them in the dirt then you would have to worm them?