ingredients for 'Dust Bath'

[Madcap621]

2 questions, actually.

1] Is DE and builders sand an OK mix for a dust bath bowl?

2] I put it in a terracotta planter-pot dish -- about 2" deep. Do I need a deeper bowl? The babies are 5 weeks old and are starting to want to dust bathe. 5 are banties [1 a Cochin, 3 OEGs and the 5th ???? - beautiful red color, half the size of the Polish, twice the size of the OEGs ??????????????, one a Polish.

Madcap621

 

[PeeperKeeper]

Sounds like a great idea!

 

[teach1rusl]

Sounds great on both counts!! Mine are 9 weeks now and I STILL use a planter base, just a much larger one!

I use playsand and DE...same concept!

 

[evonne]

my chickens make their dust bath where ever they happen to be...
but then again, my entire yard is dirt... i have no clue what all this pretty green stuff you guys keep in your yard is.. but it is not cundusive to dust baths.. what are you thinking.. lol...

2" seems shallow to me, but like i said, mine make their own.. lol... so i have no idea.....

 

[hen-thusiast]

Quote:

Yep. We made our ladies a fancy dust bath... and they NEVER use it. They made their own. I think they did it just to irritate us.

 

[hermiesbirdies]

Ok, kinda new here. everyone is saying DE is that Diatomatious Earth?

 

[dianer29]

My 14 week old SILKIE characters do not dust bathe. I have a small litter pan with De and dry store bought builders sand.Ther perch on the end of it to nap and sleep they pick thru like on a Treasure hunt BUT they do not bathe in it.......go figure....................!

 

[mom2jedi]

Quote:
Yes, DE is short for Diatomaceous Earth. Quite a mouthful so everyone abbreviates it!

 

[Madcap621]

UPDATE: They scooted all the 'dust mix' out into their bedding and lay in the bare dish!

Back to the drawing board!

Madcap621

 

[wm8c]

I'm thoroughly convinced now that chickens are worse than dogs when it comes to digging and dust baths. They dig holes faster than the dog ever did and as fast as I fill them in so we don't trip in the chicken yard, they dig em' back out! I have an area of my chicken yard that is mostly sand but they seem to prefer digging where the more graveled area is. I've decided they do what they want and you can't really stop them lol! I did manage with about 3 weeks of persistence get them to all stop sleeping in the nest boxes earlier this year but gave up on the digging issue.

I keep DE in their nest box straw and add it to their food which insures they are getting exposed to that for other reasons with regard to pest control and I also use the deep litter method in the coop so there is plenty of DE in the bedding in there too.