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

[Gab1]

I don’t think it’s necessary as they can just dig and make their own! It’s up to you!

Absolutely My girls absolutely love their covered sandpit, I use sandpit sand and add Diamatacious Earth regularly so that they are always able to clean themselves even when the weather's wet and horrid. The Sand is a much better option than dirt and I add wood ash from our fires whenever I can. The girls absolutely love it and I love watching them in it

 

[Gab1]

Some of my girls are now 15 and still popping out the odd egg! They've never had mites or problems with their legs and I maintain it's from the sandpit dust bath! I add new sand regularly as they fluff it everywhere. There's no way that wood chip would keep them clean and mite free

 

[gtaus]

Absolutely My girls absolutely love their covered sandpit

I have an old tire ring that I found in the yard one day by the road after someone must have blown a tire. If I put that tire ring in the chicken run to use as a dust bath, I'll be sure to make some kind of cover for it. Right now I have a dust bath cement mixer tub filled with sand in the coop. I'll be adding some wood ash and dirt to the mix. Only bad thing is that I cannot see if they are using it or not unless I am right by the window when they bathe.

 

[gtaus]

They've never had mites or problems with their legs and I maintain it's from the sandpit dust bath!

Do you use straight sand or do you have a mix of dirt, DE, wood ash, etc...? Sounds like you have had success with your sandpit dust bath.

 

[amiachicknorwat]

Variety is the spice of (soil) life. So that which is already suggested together including the wood chips already preponderating. We add wood stove ash, which keeps smell down as well as bio-charges however much charred wood is in the mix. Also deciduous leaves as well mixes well into garden soil formation, as well as grass scythings/clippings. Plus there's what's used in garden amendments: cuttings of alfalfa, stinging nettles, comfrey, and may as well add other herbs & flowers too...kitchen compost too, to whatever degree comforts you too. Some of that can be strewn out in the run. Since chickens are compost accelerators we may as well make this work for us since most of us garden too. But either way we had better make soil since soil erosion has been the way since Green Revolution started in 1945 https://studyhippo.com/the-green-re...pulation-another-cause-would-be-poor-land-51/ So we need Bernie Sanders in 2020 who'll support a Green New Deal to get us out of the Great Ecological Depression in somewhat the same way the New Deal got US out of the Great (economic) Depression -- for posterity, thanks.

 

[ChickGirl007]

You don’t need to make a dust bath yourself. They are independent enough to make their own.

 

[gtaus]

You don’t need to make a dust bath yourself. They are independent enough to make their own.

If my chickens were free range, I think I would just let it go. But my chickens are confined to a grassy chicken run. They have been making dust baths in the wood chips in the coop. I live in northern Minnesota, and these birds will be in the coop for a large part of the winter, so I wanted them to take their dust baths in the coop itself. So I did put a small cement mixing tub filled with sand in the coop. I'll add some dirt and wood ash to that mix and hope it will be good enough for them. But yes, I'm sure they would make their own dust baths if left to free range.

 

[NanaKat]

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.

When I had my chicks in the brooder, I started providing them a simple sand dust bath in a small tray around week 2. They loved it. I moved them out to the coop a couple weeks ago at week 8, and they have not had a dedicated dust bath since. They have a 13x13 run outside, but so far they are making their own dust baths in the wood chips deep litter inside the coop. I was just thinking about making a better dust bath setup for them since I already have a nice cement mixer tub, sand, dirt, etc.... The only thing I did not have was the DE, and turns out that lots of suggest not using it anyway. That's fine with me. Anytime I don't have to buy something is a win for me. Thanks.

I use deep litter in my hen house and have a designated dusting area....24 X 30 inch wood frame made of 2 X 6 lumber. I use wood ash, poultry dust and fine sand for the mix. It is next to a sunny window. Birds are healthy and as pest free as possible.
Twice a year, I clean out the nest boxes and spray all the coop surfaces with Permethrin. Birds get treated with Ivomectin once a year for worms.

 

[gtaus]

I use deep litter in my hen house and have a designated dusting area....24 X 30 inch wood frame made of 2 X 6 lumber. I use wood ash, poultry dust and fine sand for the mix. It is next to a sunny window. Birds are healthy and as pest free as possible.
Twice a year, I clean out the nest boxes and spray all the coop surfaces with Permethrin. Birds get treated with Ivomectin once a year for worms.

Sounds like a good cleaning and preventative plan. What is poultry dust? I have not heard of that before.

 

[NanaKat]

I'm in Oklahoma. It is made by Hi-Yield...labeled Garden Pet and Livestock dust. I find it at our local farm store Atwoods in a 4 pound bag. Tractor Supply also carries it as does one of our feed stores. Referred locally as "Poultry dust" it is a powdered mix containing the insecticide permethrin at .25% with 99.75% inert ingredients.
Can be used on dogs for fleas and ticks, in the garden for bugs and on livestock for flies.