Dust/ Dirt bath

[liyahmarie0323]

Hello! I’m new and just acquired me some quail hens to start out a little homesteading thing and also they’re cute little pets. I was wondering if i can use potting soil in place of sand. I saw that you shouldn’t of it has the white fertilizer balls in them but can i sift them out or should i not use soil that’s had it at all?

 

[Huntmaster]

Hello! I’m new and just acquired me some quail hens to start out a little homesteading thing and also they’re cute little pets. I was wondering if i can use potting soil in place of sand. I saw that you shouldn’t of it has the white fertilizer balls in them but can i sift them out or should i not use soil that’s had it at all?

A lot of potting soils have fertilizer in them that you can't get out the white stuff is vermiculite to keep the soil from compacting.

 

[knotty]

I’m not sure that potting soil would be the best choice for a dust bath.
If you’re going to prepare something for them, I would think that you might find some normal dirt around your yard, maybe sift it and perhaps add some sand and a little DE and then let it bake in the sun for awhile.

 

[muddy75]

Peat moss, sand, or even a little dirt from your yard can make a great dust bath

 

[Nabiki]

Plain old garden dirt will work beautifully. You probably want to avoid anything that has too much fertilizer. You can always cut it with dirt you dig out of your yard.

 

[bajabirdbrain]

We have used equal amounts of peat moss and sand with some sifted wood ash added. No issues we are aware of and the girls seem to like it!