Is a dust bath necessary if you have a deep litter coop?

Just wait, they'll dig some holes.
You could help them get started by turning over one shovelful of sod.

I made my mobile coop on the frame of an old boat trailer. I'll probably move the coop and run to greener grass if/when the chickens trample the current run. Since it's in my backyard, I'm not too anxious to dig holes. But I did put a dust bath in the coop and I hope they are using it. At least, 4 weeks on the same patch of grass and no dust baths dug into the grass as of yet.
 
There is some charcoal ash in there as well as the wood ash. Can I use that for a dust bath?
There's been some discussions of using charcoal ashes and IIRC conclusion was to not use them.
Hardwood ashes are the best. One guy did a test between softwood and hard wood, the chickens chose the hardwood.
 
Deep litter is a technique for keeping a clean coop. A dust bath is something the birds enjoy and helps with parasite control, cooling, etc. The two are unrelated. If they are dust bathing in the coop they may not have a better place to do it and are making do.

Agreed. My flock LOVE the dust bath, and I use the deep litter method. I filled an old tire inside the coop to keep it dry as benefit from the scatter. I have refill with sand, ash and DE regularly.
 
I have a 10'x5' walk-in coop/covered run and have pine shavings on the floor. I got a 2'x3' plastic container that was about 6" deep, and filled it with 4" of play sand and dirt. I only saw one of my 4 14 week old hens dirt bathing once, and most of the time I was scooping out pine shavings and chicken poop. Any ideas?
 
I only saw one of my 4 14 week old hens dirt bathing once, and most of the time I was scooping out pine shavings and chicken poop. Any ideas?

Maybe try a different container, or different dirt bath materials. My chickens didn't like my first container which was an old recycling bin - probably a little too cramped - but they've liked all the others from that point on. I've previously used a small raised garden bed and now I use a turtle sandbox, which works well since the lid keeps the contents dry during rain/snow.

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I am getting ready for my next project, a dust bath. However, before I start, I want to make sure I'm not wasting my time. My coop has a deep litter system of primarily wood chips (4-6 inches deep). Currently, the 10 week old chicks will dig a hole in the wood chips and make their own dust bath. I was thinking about putting a small cement mixer pan in the coop with sand and some DE. But is it necessary, or at least a good idea, given the chickens already make their own dust bathes in the wood chips? Thanks for any feedback.
They don’t need a dust bath in the coop, certainly not with DE in it. See? I already made that mistake, so now you don’t have to. DE will coat everything in the coop in thin gray dust. Everything. That no doubt includes the lining of your chickens’ respiratory tracts. Dust baths are better outside in the run, and they will make their own. If you make one for them you’ll constantly need to refill it (did that, too). And they’ll still make their own.

I use deep litter with hay, straw, pine needles and wood chips. This makes its own dust very quickly and the girls happily use it to bathe in. Any carbon material that’s not overly aromatic (don’t use cedar shavings) will do, but it will work a lot better if you use several different kinds.
 
I am thinking of digging the tub down into the wood chips until the lip of the tub is level with the wood chips. Any thoughts?
Are the wood chips inside your coop?
Does your coop have a dirt floor?
How many birds do you have?
I would definitely keep the dust bath well above the surface of the chips. Chickens do a lot of scratching all day, and soon all your chips will just fall in the bath and most of the sand/dirt will be flung out. making it sort of the same inside and out. But it's a lot easier to refill dirt in an above-ground container than it is to scoop out wood chips.

Have you considered covering part of your run to keep a dry dust bath outside? My chickens spend very little time inside the coop during the day, I would hate for them to miss or ignore the best dust bath because they'd rather be out in the fresh air.

My coop is raised 2" and I filled that entire area underneath with sand for a dust bath area. The covered runs have a dirt floor with pine shavings. The outside chicken yard has a deep layer of wood chips... so I have a variety of materials. I can tell you I've never seen my birds dust bathing in the wood chips, and for some reason they don't seem to prefer the sand either. They dig holes in the dirt run and bathe there, go figure.

Then while free ranging in my backyard, they discovered one of my planters and decided it was their favorite of all. After they scratched out the plants, I just decided to give it to them in one of the runs, but I do have to refill it periodically as their bathing can get pretty exuberant!
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I use plain potting soil or topsoil, or extra dirt from my yard or garden beds, mixed with a little sand and also some fire pit ash when I have it available.
 
I think dust baths should primarily be used as a welfare-thing. It's an important behavior for the chickens. Having the dust bath inside, even in shavings will cause dust to whir up, dunno how that works in deep litter, but I'm guessing it's quite dry at the top at least? A sand bath under roof outside would be preferable both to the coop condition and to the hens.

As for mite/lice control, any additives would only suffice to lessen the pest load, not eliminate them completely. If you have a mite or lice problem, the best thing to do is to treat all the animals to eradicate the parasites completely. The only thing scientifically proven to eliminate mites that can be added to dust baths are elemental sulfur in high doses. Kaolin clay and DE work a little, but the hens will only have a few less parasites... Here they used liquid substances and here they used dust baths.
 
I have a 10'x5' walk-in coop/covered run and have pine shavings on the floor. I got a 2'x3' plastic container that was about 6" deep, and filled it with 4" of play sand and dirt. I only saw one of my 4 14 week old hens dirt bathing once, and most of the time I was scooping out pine shavings and chicken poop. Any ideas?

When my chicks were in the brooder, I had a small tray with sand in it for dust bathing. I was fortunate enough to actually see a few chicks bathing, scratching up the sand, and throwing it all over themselves. After they are done with the bath, they get up and out and carry on as normal. So, most of the time the dust bath tray was empty. I could see the level of sand was continuing to go down, and I don't think they were eating it all. The sand dust bath tray would get dirty with chips, shavings, and poop. I used a Dollar Tree kitty litter box scoop with slits in it to strain the sand but remove the other stuff. It did not take long to clean out the dust bath.

As far as knowing if the dust bath is being used when you are not monitoring it? Again, maybe if the level of the dust bath continues to go down that would be one indicator. I have also considered getting a baby monitor, or something like that, to give me a chicken cam into the coop so I can see if the bath is actually being used, or not. If not, I guess I'd remove it. They are making dust baths in the deep litter wood chips, but I would think the sand dust bath would be more to their liking.
 

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