To Dust Bath or not to Dust Bath.

[haddiemoo]

I have not seen my 3 hens take a dust bath yet. I have had them now for about four weeks and I see others in this forum talk about this but have not seen mine do it yet. I had regular yard dirt in their coop for the first 3 weeks that I had them and now I have put in a mixture of play sand/paving sand/regular dirt. Should I notice them taking this dust bath or do I even need to worry about this?

 

[churchx3]

Don't worry if you have not seen them take a dust bath...it is natural for them and will happen in time... I am amazed at how my chickens just layer on the dirt and then lay there like they are dead or something...they love it...dust baths and sunbathing are two of their favorite things.

 

[ZombieChickens]

I don't even have a dust bath in my coop. My ladies prefer to destroy my flowerbeds instead.

 

[saltnprepper]

I just found two of my 10 week pullets having a grand ole time rolling around in the pine shavings. They were cooing and fluffing and scratching around. It was the funniest thing.

 

[nurse_turtle]

My girls don't have a designated dust bath area. The love to scratch it up themselves. They use pine shavings and mulch. Sometimes I see them partying in the gravel driveway. I place a small square hay bale in the center of the coop and it takes them a few days to scratch it all over the place and roll around in it.

 

[yinzerchick]

Oh they'll discover the joy soon enough! Then your landscaping will look like a moonscape with all sorts of ankle turning craters!

 

[RedIII]

Yes, I suggest looking around in any "dirty" spots of your yard for those craters. Mine have torn up the ground under the trailers and such out back. I saw my Leghorn out there yesterday doing the roly poly, after which she gave me the face.

 

[TabbyChickens]

Do they need dirt for dust baths, or can they bathe in sand?

 

[daver]

They dust in about anything it seems. I have holes out back, they will dust bathe in the pine shavings in the coop but their favorite place right now is under the back deck. They will find places to bathe.

Do they need dirt for dust baths, or can they bathe in sand?

 

[kara_leigh]

I rarely catch mine dust bathing, but I know they do it. They have a couple spots that they like to use, a couple spots they dug in the yard, one right up against our patio, under our bushes next to the house, and a couple spots in the brush at the edge of our woods.