My Chickens have stopped dirt bathing

[jjjjiggs]

HI All,

I am on the Westcoast, and we have had a ton of rain. My girls are just turning 1 years old.

They used to use their dust bath I had in the run for them until about 6 months ago when I just started leaving the outside coop door open so they could go free range in our yard all day. They return well before our automatic door closes to the actual coop for the night. It has worked out great. They have found their favorite spot under the Hydrangeas to do their bathing. A bunch of big potholes.

Problem, is it has been wet for weeks, and there is no evidence of them going back to using the old bathing bin that is still in the run.

Do I need to be worried? Do they stop bathing so much in the Winter?
Will they eventually give in and go where there is only dry dirt (in the run)?


Thanks for your help!

Jiggs

 

[Newmamabear]

Maybe they just feel cleaner with thier hydrangea dirt? Can you scoop some of it and put it into thier dust bowl in the coop? It may take a little while to dry but might entice them if they are looking a bit scruffy

 

[jjjjiggs]

I will try anything. The funny thing is the dirt that is is the run is the same dirt I took from the garden by the bushes.

 

[Newmamabear]

Lol no accounting for the tastes of chickens hey

Might be that it's just a pretty space for a nice bath. You can only try

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They will dust bathe as they need to. They just might not have much of a parasite load at the moment. Also they won't dust bathe if the soil is wet. They require it to be dry and powdery.

 

[aart]

I would not worry.....micro-managing dust bathing is fruitless.