Forced dust bathing? dust bath size?

[Jenbirdee]

my chickens never use the dust baths I made for them. They always make a hole somewhere in the ground by a tree or something but there’s been snow on the ground all week now it’s melting, but it’s still a frozen slushy mess. I noticed the chickens picking at themselves like maybe they’re a little itchy and needed dust bath? so I decided to catch them and force them to dust bathe in one that I made. I held them down one at a time and rubbed some dust up under the wings and all around the torso and neck , and on bottom area . they seemed OK with it after I was done. but why don’t they just use it by themselves when everywhere else is frozen and snow? i use an xl round feed bowl and when i sit a hen in the middle there’s still about 4 inches of dust showing in all sides of her. Is there a bigger size requirement? do they prefer rectangles or squares? I have two chocolate, English Orpington hens . What do the dimensions have to be for them to approve?

 

[NatJ]

my chickens never use the dust baths I made for them. They always make a hole somewhere in the ground by a tree or something but there’s been snow on the ground all week now it’s melting, but it’s still a frozen slushy mess. I noticed the chickens picking at themselves like maybe they’re a little itchy and needed dust bath? so I decided to catch them and force them to dust bathe in one that I made. I held them down one at a time and rubbed some dust up under the wings and all around the torso and neck , and on bottom area . they seemed OK with it after I was done. but why don’t they just use it by themselves when everywhere else is frozen and snow? i use an xl round feed bowl and when i sit a hen in the middle there’s still about 4 inches of dust showing in all sides of her. Is there a bigger size requirement? do they prefer rectangles or squares? I have two chocolate, English Orpington hens . What do the dimensions have to be for them to approve?

Your chickens might care about what is in the dust bath, where it is located, or it may just be that they formed habits and don't feel like changing.

Does the dust bath you made have different stuff in it than the places they usually choose? Or they might care about how much sun or shade there is, or how big it is (maybe they want enough room to all use it at once?), or they might want their dust just a little bit damp (or not), or probably some other factors I can't think of because I'm not a chicken.

As far as I can tell, there is no perfect dust bath. Different chickens and different flocks can have different preferences, and some even change preferences in different seasons. So most of the time, it's not worth fussing very much, as long as the chickens have something they are willing to use.

In this case, with the snow covering their usual dust bath areas, I do not know if they need help or if they would still be fine left alone. I tend to think that if they feel too bad, they will figure something out (but maybe I overestimate their intelligence.)

 

[Jenbirdee]

Your chickens might care about what is in the dust bath, where it is located, or it may just be that they formed habits and don't feel like changing.

Does the dust bath you made have different stuff in it than the places they usually choose? Or they might care about how much sun or shade there is, or how big it is (maybe they want enough room to all use it at once?), or they might want their dust just a little bit damp (or not), or probably some other factors I can't think of because I'm not a chicken.

As far as I can tell, there is no perfect dust bath. Different chickens and different flocks can have different preferences, and some even change preferences in different seasons. So most of the time, it's not worth fussing very much, as long as the chickens have something they are willing to use.

In this case, with the snow covering their usual dust bath areas, I do not know if they need help or if they would still be fine left alone. I tend to think that if they feel too bad, they will figure something out (but maybe I overestimate their intelligence.)

i used a mix of dirt that they like from my yard, sand, peat moss, and this ( see pic) i didn’t add wood ash or DE because i read bad things about those two. but also i have added some of this mixture i made into their preferred dust bath spots when the holes looked too deep ( and tree roots showing) and they like the mixture so it had to be the container and or location i guess

 

[NatJ]

i used a mix of dirt that they like from my yard, sand, peat moss, and this ( see pic) i didn’t add wood ash or DE because i read bad things about those two. but also i have added some of this mixture i made into their preferred dust bath spots when the holes looked too deep ( and tree roots showing) and they like the mixture so it had to be the container and or location i guess

That should be fine Yes, they are probably just being fussy about the location, or maybe it doesn't feel right unless it has a few tree roots in the middle or something that would sound equally silly.

 

[SamLockwood]

I had the same problem: I tried making dust baths for them and they just don't care. They seem to like a variety of locations. One time I caught the guineas dust-bathing in some spilled feed crumbles.

Overall my flock likes locations that get sunlight but also have some sort of overhead cover: so they'll bathe under trees, shrubberies (which they'll prune so they have space to crawl under them), the partially disassembled old chicken run, or under the eaves of the house.