My chickens don't dust bath any more

[Countrywantabe]

Hi Everyone,

So I decided to reclaim my yard as the girls had destroyed all the flower beds and lawn with their digging and no one liked all the fertilizer deposits everywhere. My father and hubby built a large new coop with a big run and the hens have spent all winter in there. We have filled a large kitty litter box with peat, and Diatomaceous Earth in the coop but have not had any takers on that. They used to love a good old dust bath but now they don't seem in the slightest bit interested. Why would they stop dust bathing? Is the mixture wrong, is it too strange of a container or what? Any ideas? We have a Barred rock, Welsummer, dark and light Brahmas, a black sex link, a Cinnamon queen, a Barnvelder, Australorp, and a Buff Orpinton along with a Silver Laced Wynadote Rooster.

Thanks!

 

[chicksurreal]

Hi Everyone,

So I decided to reclaim my yard as the girls had destroyed all the flower beds and lawn with their digging and no one liked all the fertilizer deposits everywhere. My father and hubby built a large new coop with a big run and the hens have spent all winter in there. We have filled a large kitty litter box with peat, and Diatomaceous Earth in the coop but have not had any takers on that. They used to love a good old dust bath but now they don't seem in the slightest bit interested. Why would they stop dust bathing? Is the mixture wrong, is it too strange of a container or what? Any ideas? We have a Barred rock, Welsummer, dark and light Brahmas, a black sex link, a Cinnamon queen, a Barnvelder, Australorp, and a Buff Orpinton along with a Silver Laced Wynadote Rooster.

Thanks!

Hm. I'm not sure about the mixture, but I know that when we put a mixture of stuff in a big (really big) cardboard box and put it in their run, they were not even slightly interested and eventually dug around and made a dust bathing spot for themselves with the dirt in the run. I let them out in our yard every day for a few hours and stay with them and they have a favorite spot under some scrub oak where you can routinely see 14 chickens wriggling and rolling in the dirt! It's so funny to watch them.

I think maybe they don't like the confinement of a container because ours really like to dust bathe together and they wouldn't all fit in a box.

 

[cstronks]

I kind of agree with chicksurreal here. The chickens do not like squeezing into a dust bath in my experiences. They also like to have a say in where they will bathe, and they may just find the spot disagreeable. What you should do is put some DE and peat on the soil outside in the run and they will more than likely dig and bathe in that area.

 

[TheEggCollecter]

The chickens prefer to find a spot to there liking to dust bathe. Once they do find it and become accustom to using it, it can be hard for them to use a different one.

 

[3chickchicks]

My guess is they need a larger space, large enough for all of them. Mine enjoy community baths as well. My run uses sand as substrate. They're out all day but they return to it to bathe. They pile together and bathe. I sprinkle some DE so that they sort of self treat for mites and lice. Not sure about peat. Why did you go with that?

 

[RedDrgn]

I'd recommend digging up a portion of the run, several square feet or so (in a shady spot) and making that into your dust bathing area. Just a few inches deep and they'll take care of the rest. Altenratively, just spread your mixture around and let the flock pick their bathing spots themselves when they feel like a bath.