Should I put in a dust bath? Maybe a tote?

[Lilion]

Silly question, but my coop is in a shady, grassy area. I saw my pullets today under it having a "dust bath" in the grass. Should I put a shallow box out tote with soil there so they have actual dust, or just give them time to kill the grass? We are planning on moving the little cop every couple weeks. I've only had them two days, not quite sure what I'm doing. Yes, my profile says 8 years, long story, but these are my first chickens, just took me a while to get here.

 

[nuthatched]

Maybe a small kiddie pool? I think a tote would be too small, chickens flop around when bathing.

 

[Lilion]

Maybe a small kiddie pool? I think a tote would be too small, chickens flop around when bathing.

They're only about half grown, so they're just little girls, only just fully feathered. I was thinking of an under bed storage box. It's only a 4x4 area. I guess I could just dump some soil on the ground?

 

[kcan2]

Mine have a dust bath in a low-clearance tote and although it's small, they use it! I wish I could fit a kiddie pool in my chicken tractor but since it is smallish, I use the tote instead. The tote is about 23" x 16" filled with some sand and top soil. If you do use the tote, at least you won't have chicken potholes left around your yard each time you move the coop!

 

[nuthatched]

They're only about half grown, so they're just little girls, only just fully feathered. I was thinking of an under bed storage box. It's only a 4x4 area. I guess I could just dump some soil on the ground?

That sounds like that would work, an under bed bin would work. Just pitch some good ground dirt and they'll have a ball.
mine were trying to bathe in their feed at 10 days old

 

[3KillerBs]

It's probably not necessary if they have access to any dirt to dig up, but lots of people do it and it doesn't do any harm.