Sand for Dust Bath?

[Wildflower_VA]

Quote:
The beach sand will be fine for them. Sand in the brooder from day one is good for chicks. It helps prevent pasty butt and provides prebiotics for good digestion.

 

[amenfarm]

I don't have chickens yet, a 12-hour a night working husband,--But the recipe I've read about for dust baths is sand ,a little wood ash, a little food grade DE, and plain garden soil. love to see a pic of your peeps.

 

[chi-rn]

I've heard wood ash is good for dust-bathing too.... maybe mixed with some of your heavier soil to make it right consistency. I tried sand for my girls... they didn't like it. I think it was just too heavy to make the perfect bath!

 

[Denninmi]

You might as well buy the 50 lb or 80 lb (whichever is standard in your area, they sell both sizes here at various stores) of the play sand IF you don't have access to free sand.

They waste a ton of it dust bathing. It goes down at an amazing rate. You'll need it, trust me.

 

[csummer8882]

We put some stone dust into the coop the other day, pretty good size pieces. What did mine choose to bathe in? Just the regular dirt in the coop, they made a pretty good size hole! I was amazed! LOL

 

[JodyJo]

although mine free range, they seem to prefer their shavings in the coop.....you can dig up some dirt from your yard, anything really...apparently huh?

 

[galanie]

As far as the DE, it's great for prevention. So yes, mix it in the sand all you want. I put up to 1/4 the DE as I have sand. When I do it. I'm lazy and don't always bother. I also have wood ash that I mix in there. That's good for deterring mites too.

 

[chynasparks]

My little peeps are 10 weeks old. They are still in the temporary pen. Getting crowded. Permanent coop nearly completed. Do to surroundings they will be mostly in the coop/run. I intruduced them to a pan of play sand today. I've read they will eat it. Sure enough they're eating it. My poor little girls never felt sand before. I was hoping they would bathe but they haven't. I'm new at this and am scared they will get sick eating the sand. Anyone have any advice on this eating of the sand?

 

[amenfarm]

They will use sand as grit. It should not be harmful. have you introduced chick sized granite grit yet? if not, you should. I buy builders sand for this, and I have chicken sized grit for layers.

 

[chynasparks]

Thanks for the reply. I'm so excited about my little peeps. I've read books about care, blogs from this site but still worry about them. My hubby is building a coop/run for them but he hurt his hand at work so couldn't work on the coop. I can't use his electric saws and stuff so work got halted. Hopefully we will resume this weekend. They are growing so fast I'm afraid they will be too crowded real soon. I think the pan I used for the dust bath is just too small they had no room to explore it. I will get some of the grit you mentioned and wait on the dust bath for when the coop is ready. Thanks much