Topic of the week - Dustbathing

[CoopintheWoods]

My chickens have a part of their pen that they dig chicken-sized craters to dust bathe in. I have never provided a dustbath.

 

[Liv_loves_chickens]

When I let my chickens out they just go under my deck for shade and they take a dust bath in the dirt

 

[Liv_loves_chickens]

I have also never provided a dust bath

 

[Stephine]

ours usually dustbathe in the meadow under the sequoias, or dig out basins in their run when they are penned up. This winter it was so wet here they only had mud in their usual spots so I made them a dustbath in a large litter pan with sand and woodash from our fireplace and a little bit of elemental sulfur. The coop got a bit dusty with that in there, but they were happy.

 

[centrarchid]

Chicks start using dust bath around ten days post hatch.


With confined flocks I used wash tubs filled to about 1/3 capacity with a mixture of sand, clay rich soil, silt and potting soil in roughly equal amounts by volume. Resultant mixture approximates a silt loam. Tub is either placed in a location to get midday sun or has a heat lamp placed over it (winter only). Care is taken to keep contents dry.

 

[owlsayshoo]

We are constructing a run for our not quite two-week-old flock (though they won't be introduced to the run for several more weeks). The run will be lined with pea stone and sand. Will we need to provide them with a dust bath in addition to the sand run?

 

[MrsAuberry00]

I'm new to the world of chickens and am totally on board for letting my hens make their own dust baths. However, right now, the floor of their run is a muddy mess...we've had over 7 inches of rain in the past day and a half, which is unusual for us. What do you do when they have no dry area for a dust bath? Is it okay to let them go a few days and not worry about it until things dry out? Should I run out and get a container to put in their run and fill it with what? It wouldn't stay dry in the run, even though it's covered, so should I put it inside the coop? Some of you mentioned putting the dust bath in the coop in the winter...do you do that when it's snowy and wet or all the time? Help! AAAAAAHHHH!

 

[MrsAuberry00]

We are constructing a run for our not quite two-week-old flock (though they won't be introduced to the run for several more weeks). The run will be lined with pea stone and sand. Will we need to provide them with a dust bath in addition to the sand run?

Pea stone! I was just talking with my husband about how we can keep our run lined with sand but help with drainage issues when we have tons of rain or melting snow. Is your pea stone and sand directly on the ground, or did you build a type of mold/container for it, (think like when you're pouring concrete and you put wood braces up)?

 

[owlsayshoo]

@MrsAuberry00

So we haven't actually built it yet, but the plan is to frame the run with about 6" of plywood (and line the entire bottom with hardware cloth), then spread out 3-4 inches of pea stone plus a few inches of washed construction sand. I'm slightly overwhelmed thinking about it!

 

[MrsAuberry00]

@owlsayshoo
FRAME! Thank you...I had the image, just not the word. I think that's what we're going to have to do as well, but we'll have to do it in an existing run with six chickens! Just think how nice it will be when it's done...that's what I'm going to do.