Has anyone made your own dust bath

[Relleoms]

No the sandbox doesn't have drainage but I can drill some holes in the bottom, I was thinking covering it at night and during bad weather would help keep it dried out ... or should I be sure to add the drainage holes too? You've been super helpful!!

I wouldn’t add drainage holes if you want it to stay dry, but make sure to cover it when raining/snowing, at night, etc.! Also, my run has been very muddy and I put down some mulch to help keep their feet dry-ish and it has worked great. It might be an inexpensive way to improve your run until yo

Do you use just peat moss?

Yep! I bought a bag of sand, too, but it’s too heavy for me to pour without my husband’s help. They’ve been using it with just the pm, so I don’t think I’ll even add the sand. And I dump my fireplace ash in a pile near by compost pile & they don’t touch it, for whatever reason, so I haven’t added any to the dust bath, either. Keep it simple seems to work for me!

 

[kwhites634]

I've never seen the advantage in providing a dust bath for my birds; they do it themselves better than I ever could...perfect location (several, actually) of their choice, soil to their liking, and FREE

 

[Relleoms]

I've never seen the advantage in providing a dust bath for my birds; they do it themselves better than I ever could...perfect location (several, actually) of their choice, soil to their liking, and FREE

Couldn’t agree more, however, our ground is frozen solid & on the days it actually gets above freezing, it’s solid mud! I figure a $3 bag of peat moss is worth it.

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

I made a lovely dust bath out of an old tire. Filled it with wood ash from the wood burner, and construction grade sand with a little dusting of DE in there. Set it in the center of the covered run. They dig holes and dust bathe everywhere else but the tire... So now the tire is just a toy they climb on... I'm thinking about suspending the feeder from the roof of the run above the tire so they can stand on the tire and eat and hopefully keep the feeder free from all the debris they kick into it.

 

[farm_girl726]

Couldn’t agree more, however, our ground is frozen solid & on the days it actually gets above freezing, it’s solid mud! I figure a $3 bag of peat moss is worth it.

Same here, we are a very wet area. They dig up the ground and it turns to mud. If it was dry dirt then I'd be more than okay with them doing it on their own but they prefer my toddler's sandbox because it's dry so I'm trying to give them their own space for it.

I've never seen the advantage in providing a dust bath for my birds; they do it themselves better than I ever could...perfect location (several, actually) of their choice, soil to their liking, and FREE

 

[21hens-incharge]

What is your ratio for peat to sand > ash?

I have a large flock so I use a bale of peat, a bag of play sand and whatever ash I can get my hands on.

A 3 dollar bag exists???? WOW, a bag here is rather large and about 25 bucks.

 

[Relleoms]

I have a large flock so I use a bale of peat, a bag of play sand and whatever ash I can get my hands on.

A 3 dollar bag exists???? WOW, a bag here is rather large and about 25 bucks.

Sorry, it was $7 for 2.2 cf. The mulch was $3/bag

 

[MartinsPoultry]

I third all of it. 1/3 sand, 1/3 ash, 1/3 dirt

 

[bajabirdbrain]

Our run is fully covered so getting wet/muddy isn't a factor. We use a cheap plastic kiddie pool for our dust bath. Half wood ash and half peat moss with some sand added for replacement. Have also read to never use DE with chickens, for us, not worth the risk. Note in picture= various roosts, hanging cabbage, swing with mealworm/sunflower seed holder, automatic coop door opener/closer, poop scooper hanging on fence. Always looking for more toys/projects for our girls!!!

 

[farm_girl726]

Our run is fully covered so getting wet/muddy isn't a factor. We use a cheap plastic kiddie pool for our dust bath. Half wood ash and half peat moss with some sand added for replacement. Have also read to never use DE with chickens, for us, not worth the risk. Note in picture= various roosts, hanging cabbage, swing with mealworm/sunflower seed holder, automatic coop door opener/closer, poop scooper hanging on fence. Always looking for more toys/projects for our girls!!!

View attachment 1249842

Nice. We have a small awning for our girls, but they typically have free reign of our back 2 acres.