Sand for Dust Bath?

[jenkassai]

Hello all!

I have a range of chicks in my brooder. The two and three week olds (well, mostly the 2 week olds) really want to dust bathe, so much so that three of them squeeze themselves into the treat bowl after the treats are gone! Or, one tried dust bathing in the boiled egg remnants in the bowl last night

So clearly I need to provide them with the means to take dust baths! The soil in my area is clay, so not good for dust baths. I don't want to buy a huge bag of play sand, but at the pet store I saw "marine sand" for aquariums. Would that be okay to use for now? Also, I picked up some food grade DE. Don't know why, as a "just in case" I guess, I saw it talked about on here and saw it advertised at our feed store, so thought maybe I should keep it on hand. Should I mix some of that in with the sand? Or you only use that in case of bugs??

Please help me help my chicks take their much desired dust baths!!

Thx!

 

[dianaross77]

You could go to a playground and "borrow" some sand! 50lbs bags are not as much sand as you think and they only cost $3. They sell sand for hermit crabs and reptiles too. It says marine sand is sand from the ocean so it should be okay. Mixing some DE in with it is a good idea. They can eat some and roll around in it too.

 

[gritsar]

Walmart sells a play sand, by Crayola, in small bags. I imagine it would be cheaper than marine sand? Heck, some plain potting soil will work when it comes right down to it just don't want the kind with added fertilizer or that white stuff (verticulite?).

DE is okay, just go lightly on it.

 

[BrattishTaz]

I just scoop dirt from my yard into a shallow dish. I live in FL so dirt here really is just sand anyway.

 

[jenkassai]

Quote:
Ugh, hate going to Walmart just because of how crowded it always is! But I will for my chicks

What area would I find that in, the outdoor section? Never thought about just using potting soil! I think I actually have some organic garden soil that I haven't opened yet! I know what you're talking about, the little white ball things that look like styrofoam, I'll make sure it doesn't have that in there.

Thx!

 

[benjoycei]

I only go to walmart at 9 am or earlier...beats the crowd

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Got you beat. Our new habit is to shop at wally world somewhere between midnight and 2 AM. We're night people. 'Course there's nothing to be done about the endless remodel of our wally world. Every week it's adventure to see where they've moved items to.

Jen, last time I saw the play sand it was in the section with the pools and pool toys.

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

I think we got ours at a local lumber yard. Play sand. I think that's what we called it.

I put some in a shoebox for the chicks when they were tiny and in the cardboard brooder; now we buy a few bags of it and empty it into the pen. Reminds me I need to do this for the new chicks...

 

[Wildflower_VA]

I have only six chickens, 16 weeks old, and I just opened the third 50-pound bag of play sand for them. They also eat sand, so the dish in the brooder gets empty fast. They have very nice dirt in the run and in the woods where they free-range, but they still want their play sand. Actually, I brought in a new bag a few days ago, but didn't fill their pan, so they pecked the bag open and helped themselves. They get as excited about fresh sand as they do treats.

 

[chickenbythesea]

so marine sand... could I just go to the end of my road and get the sand straight from the beach or does it need to be treated or something? I have a cat litter bin waiting for sand but didn't think they'd need it until later... they're only 2 weeks at this point.