What to use for dust bath?

[cindyanne1]

It's all over mud around here these days and I'd like to give my chicks something to dust in. They've been trying to do it in the pan of parakeet grit but it's not really enough.

I'd like to give them a pan of something just for dusting but I'm not sure what. Kids' play sand, maybe? Or sawdust? I would just go dig up some dirt but I'm afraid there's nary a dry piece of earth to be had... at least that I can find!

My husband suggested kitty litter but that didn't seem right to me so I'm not going to use that.

Any suggestions?

 

[Drivegirl54]

My girls love to use the pine shavings

 

[wundernurse]

I use a mixture of peat moss and some DE. The peat moss is very dry, light and fluffy, which they really like. Some people also mix in some ash. Try and find a spot under some cover where it won't get wet. I put mine in the corner of the coop which is covered and then I have a spot out in the run, which will get wet if it rains.

 

[BuckeyeDave]

I bought a concrete mixing pan from Lowe's (about $5), put in a couple of scoops of dirt from the field, some sand from the sandbox and a generous helping of D.E. I then put it in the corner of the coop. The birds line up for it, one of them is always in it, it works great.

 

[joebryant]

my $10 large and $5 small concrete mixing pans from Home Depot are filled with commercial garden soil mix, wood ashes, peat moss, and food-grade diatomaceous earth. I enclosed each one with a 2x4 wooden frame to help hold in the mix. They also like to sit on this wooden fframe in the run during the day.