What is a good age to start dust baths

[hbrunet72]

I am brand new to chickens and ducks, I have 13 pullets and one roo, and they are just over a week old. I have learned that dust bathing is important, but am unsure when to start them on this.

I have sand in my yard, that I was thinking of using, but would diatomaceous earth be beneficial as well? They are still currently inside, will be taking them out for "day trips" next week.

 

[Tami2]

Hello hbrunet72,

I am new as well. My chickies are also still inside. The first day I brought them home I poured their chick grow feed in a flat bread dish. I was getting a proper chicken bowl feeder the next day. Well, the chicks were having dust baths in the chick feed ... haha
Then when I brought them out the very first day when it was 85* here, they were all rolling around in the areas without grass. Too funny. So, they'll do it all on their own. I've actually read that chicks as young as a week will take a dust bath.

As far as the DE, I recently bought some (food grade) after reading positive articles about it. But, I'm not so sure about having them, especially the little ones roll around in it. I'd be worried about their respiratory system.
I'll let the experts address that.

Best of luck to you & your new flock!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I don't believe in using DE with all the warning on it about how hazardous it is to breathe in.

Sand should be ok, dirt from your yard from an area with no fertilizers, herbicides, etc. is probably better. If the dirt in your yard isn't really usable, 100% peat moss or plain top soil works too. My chicks simply roll around on the run floor for their first dust bath.

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

If you have woodchip or something in your brooder, you will start to see them try and dustbathe in it (tbh they try and dustbathe in everything), once that starts then you can get the sand out!

 

[hbrunet72]

Awesome, thanks everyone

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I am brand new to chickens and ducks, I have 13 pullets and one roo, and they are just over a week old. I have learned that dust bathing is important, but am unsure when to start them on this.

Welcome to BYC!

They will be dust bathing in the brooder shavings (or whatever you're using).

I'm in the anti DE camp.. regardless of grade for a multitude of reasons. But ultimately it is ineffective in humid locations like mine.

If they've been vaccinated for Marek's or anything that needs time to establish then I wait that time. Otherwise a clump of dirt, grass and all (sometimes in a dish if the soil is moist).. tends to be welcome enrichment to the brooder which also gives the chicks a little exposure to the stuff in your ground to build some immunity, before going out full time. And becomes a source of grit.

Happy chickeneering!

 

[FBMcrazy8]

Mine are just a little over 3 weeks. I’m a first timer too. I noticed mine trying to dust bathe around 2 weeks. I got them a container and put some dirt from our yard in it and some sand. Just a little of both. They love it.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

A little box with sand and soil from my yard is on the list of things I put in my brooder from day 1. Introducing them to the soil is good for immune system building as well as when they're feeling a need to dust bathe. So my list is: MHP, paper towels on OSB, water, food, dirt box. I use DE btw, it's one of the several highly debated things on BYC and that just means you get to make your own decision, there is no one way. That said, I don't use it in my first dirt box, just later in the coop.

 

[aynesidea]

I am brand new to chickens and ducks, I have 13 pullets and one roo, and they are just over a week old. I have learned that dust bathing is important, but am unsure when to start them on this.

I have sand in my yard, that I was thinking of using, but would diatomaceous earth be beneficial as well? They are still currently inside, will be taking them out for "day trips" next week.

NO to DE, it is basically a respiratory irritant when used as a dust bath, it is like talc.