IS wood ash alone in a container bad for feather dusting??? not out in the open

[ladyearth]

CONCERNED worried......
we have been fine. screening the wood ashes and putting in couple of those big black Plastic concrete type mixing flat containers ..
.cause its so wet out at times and the ground even under the BIG shed is wet...
So could ashes alone cause them to wheeze????..... cause more than one of them get in there at a time and its an enclosed partly area. so much dust.....
one container is under shed with a lattice and alumined screen enclose shed bottom.
. the other is in a aluminum topper or truck cap on the ground with couple little window... with big plastic netting and 2 by 6 sides rail and sides
wish I coul find this COARSE sand yall mention on here. only thing available is PLay sand in Bags... local gravel pit might have some ....dont know if they would sell small amt....
CAUSE I REMEMBER the vacuum cleaner repair store for vacuum motor said dont vacuum ash cause its so fine it will clog the filter and motor... supp to use a speciality ones. So Now I am concerned
opinions

 

[SilkieNation]

Lots of people love wood ash and swear by it, and it's supposed to be effective for parasite control. Me? I wouldn't go near it. It really might be fine to use, but you know if it sits with water, it'll leach out lye. And, the particles are so very fine. Would you like to get into a bath of the stuff and roll around in it? I don't believe I would. Before I give my chickens things to eat (save for bugs and dirt), I confirm that I would eat them as well. Same goes for the materials in their environment. That's why I won't use DE. I figure, if it's really bad for my respiratory tract, then it must be for theirs as well.

Mine bath in dirt to which I have added a bag or two of sand. Seems to work great! In the coop I have a kiddie pool with dirt and sand as well. It's their favorite place to hang out, even when they are not dusting. When it's hot, I dig in frozen bottles water. I've screened the dirt to get out many of the little pebbles, but need to do more. You can use play sand, but you can get all purpose sand at Home Depot. Both their indoor and outdoor baths worked great even before I added sand.

You may want to watch for other signs that may point to respiratory infection. Any discharge? How do their eyes look? Poop normal? Eating well? Lots of info on this site about those.

 

[sjturner79]

I would not let chooks have free access to wood ash. There is a good chance that is causing them breathing problems.