Dusting

[Doubletap]

Yesterday my birds seemed to want to dust in their food. So I put a small box of sand in their cage. They LOVED it. They went nuts for the stuff. In the morning I found that the sand was full of droppings so I tossed it. Do any of you put sand or dirt for your cage kept birds to dust in?

 

[RhodeIslandReds]

Yes you should always have some sand or dirt in the cage...It helps with bird fleas and mits, also they love playing in it just make sure to clean it every other day or so..

 

[worldling]

A sand/dirt/dust bath is the most exciting part of a coturnix quails life.
If you forget about the "Mite" thing, because most people raise them to much higher standers and mites/sarcopties are not really an issue, but it is part of their ritual.

 

[Overeasyplz]

mine dust in their woodchip bedding..I'd like to get them some sand and a little sandbox. I should go look for some!

 

[worldling]

Quote:
It's about the action, not the medium. If they are dusting in litter that is good enough IMO. Mine are on wire so I have to give them something that will not build up on the wire. I use sand, others use a number of things, like pot ash,potting soil, etc.
I use those plastic pans that meat comes in for dust pans.

 

[Friend2Fowl]

Mine get ashes from the wood stove, but I'm going to make a sandbox for my son this summer, so they'll get sand from it then

They have a bowl/pan in their pens at all times, and I refill it as needed. Not much worry about cleaning it, since most of it gets spread out anyway