Sand bath

[Sefirothe]

I picked up some all purpose sand to use as a sand bath for my quail. I’m worried that it might be too fine tho? It consists of about 95% sand and 5% small pebbles.

I put some in a shallow container and set it out for the jumbo whites. A couple jumped right in and started rolling in it. They came out a light tan tho. That’s why I worry it’s too fine. It didn’t really shake off either.

I threw some shavings on top and let a few more have a go but was too worried to leave it in too long.

I don’t know if this is too fine to use?

I don’t bother to provide my chickens with a dust bath, they make their own where ever they want in the run so this is all new to me.

 

[Nabiki]

All purpose construction sand should work just fine. You don't want to give it to young chicks (less than 4-5 weeks old), but it works for adults. You could also just fill a container with plain old garden dirt.

 

[Sefirothe]

All purpose construction sand should work just fine. You don't want to give it to young chicks (less than 4-5 weeks old), but it works for adults. You could also just fill a container with plain old garden dirt.

Oh good to know. These are 3 week old chicks. I’ll hold off on the sand for now.

Dirt is…not gonna happen. The ground is frozen solid at the moment. I could probably get dirt/sawdust out of my chicken run but I doubt that’s a good idea.

How about some of the smaller sawdust like bits from the bag of shavings I have? Or I have some compressed coco coir I could break up and fluff up. I’d be afraid they’d eat it and get impacted crops tho.

 

[Nabiki]

Coco coir would probably work, but I wouldn't use sawdust. Peat moss or untreated bags of potting soil would also work.

 

[thecatumbrella]

My baby chicks go bananas for peat moss, but it is incredibly dusty. It can also be hard to find smaller bags. Espoma makes one with no additives.

 

[Sefirothe]

I think I'll give the coco coir a try since I have that here already. Otherwise I'll pick up some peat moss next time I'm out at somewhere with a garden center.

 

[catesquire]

A trick another quail owner taught me was to rinse the sand off--toss it in a bucket, and hose it down until the water is mostly clear to get out the excess dust.

I don't know about regular sawdust, but sawdust from wood pellets breaking down is something they go nuts for.

I personally avoid just plain garden dirt for the small bit real possibility of disease.

 

[Sefirothe]

A trick another quail owner taught me was to rinse the sand off--toss it in a bucket, and hose it down until the water is mostly clear to get out the excess dust.

I don't know about regular sawdust, but sawdust from wood pellets breaking down is something they go nuts for.

I personally avoid just plain garden dirt for the small bit real possibility of disease.

That's what's in my chicken run. I use the wood pellets in the coop and the annual coop clean out goes directly into the run. The chickens scratch it around and mix it in with the dirt and their wood chip mulch. The chickens love digging down to the dirt mixed with sawdust and dust bathing in it!

 

[Debbie292d]

Our old chickens won't dustbath in sand. Why would they when they have several flower gardens they love much better.

Chicks, I can tell you, love it when they're learning to use the nipple bottle, and the horse bedding pellets underneath it get wet and turn to sawdust. I remove that to dry elsewhere and put fresh pellets in. Pellet sawdust is dust-free, so there's a cheap idea.