Is a dust bath necessary??

[pontoosuc]

Quote:
Since you move them every 2 weeks they'll make their own when they get a little bit older!! I've had mine make holes so deep that you couldn't even see that there was a chicken in there!!

My chicken dust bath holes are not that deep!

 

[Pele]

Lol, I would have asked the same question a couple of years ago. I learned the hard way that it wasn't my problem to worry about. I came around the side of my house one day, and my girls were half way to digging out under my fence between me and my neighbor! They were wedging their heads under the fence and dustbathing that way. What a strange sight for my poor neighbor, 3 chicken heads poking out from under the fence!


I had to concede defeat and bought a huge shallow tupperware container, and filled it with potting soil. Now my chickens have an official spa, what a bunch of spoiled girls.

 

[Terrie Mac]

My 3 week old chicks spend the warm afternoons in the open air coop layered with rice hulls, late afternoon they come back to the inside playpen that's lined with sand. The first thing they do it take a sand bath! So cute!!

 

[M.sue]

Ok folks....Got my Food Grade DE, sand, and ash from our pit. It's mixing time. I'll you know how they like it and maybe snap a pic! Thank you for all the advice. It is surely appreciated!!

 

[M.sue]

Well, they did the unexpected. First they all flocked around the tub, eyeballing it up with quisitive looks. Then they began pecking at it and even sampling it. Thank God the DE was labeld in bold letters...Pet Safe!! It wasn't until this afternoon that they actually figured out what to do. They are scratching, pecking, rolling and flopping in it!