favorite dust bath recipe?

[lighthouse1465]

What is stall dry?

 

[lynnehd]

What is stall dry?

Our feed store recommended it to me. I am very pleased with it in our coop. Very drying, so keeps the moisture down in our climate.
Got mine at the feed store.

Here's a nice thread on it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/89079/stall-dry-my-new-best-friend

 

[blucoondawg]

The breathing of de over time can cause lung disease called silicosis no different than breathing dust from a concrete saw or any number of other nasty things that get caught up in your lungs and never come back out, I don't care to subject myself to that considering de is completely useless and also expensive. My chickens are around wild birds all the time and have never had a issue with parasites, they're in good health and so enjoy digging holes in a sunny spot and dusting away with dirt, I have read ash can be beneficial, probably more so than de and its free. As far as I'm concerned de is a modern day "snake oil"

 

[lynnehd]

@jimena , I get mine at Orchard Feed Mill in Vancouver, Wa.

 

[jimena]

Is this the right kind of DE for chicken bath?

 

[2008FLHTCU]

Yes. We spread it in the coop and we also but it on our cat and dog. As far as "snake oil" we haven't had a problem with fleas.
We have been using it for over a year now.

 

[Hens1952]

What about very fine wood shavings from a board plane grinder for use in a dust bath recipe or maybe just by itself?

 

[WynnFamilyFarms]

What about very fine wood shavings from a board plane grinder for use in a dust bath recipe or maybe just by itself?

Wood shavings will work as part of a mixture (Our mixture is 4/3/2/1 DE/Wood Ash/Fine Dirt/Wood Shavings). However, when used alone, wood shavings are comparable to chickens rolling in their own feathers.

Reference:
Scholz, B., Urselmans, S., Kjaer, J.B. and Schrader, L. (2010). Food, wood, or plastic as substrates for dustbathing and foraging in laying hens: A preference test. Poultry Science, 89: 1584-1589 DOI: 10.3382/ps.2009-00598

Sanatora, G.S., Vestergaard, K.S., Agger, J.F. and Lawson, L.G. (1995). The relative preferences for feathers, straw, wood-shavings and sand for dustbathing, pecking and scratching in domestic chicks. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 43: 263-277 DOI: 10.1016/0168-1591(95)00562-7

 

[thewatsonfarm]

I'm so glad I found this thread! You all inspired me & I set the girls up with two barrels of dirt to do their bathing in! Thank you for the ideas!

 

[tigger19687]

I had a small pile where I dumped out the fire pit chunks. Not too much ash in it, more like small pieces of char.... they ate it all
I have yet to make a real dust bath, but I plan on dirt, sand and DE