I have a flock of 19 free range (during the day) chickens of a variety of breeds. They are digging holes on the edges of the lawn for dustbathing and my husband is annoyed. He says they're ruining the lawn (although the grass has grown back in the spots they have dug out previously, it IS a bit bumpy from the holes). Will providing them a small baby pool with sand/dirt in it likely satisfy them and keep them out of the lawn? Or am I just wasting my time and money on that?
Mine have a wonder put of very dry dusty dirt that they love and they still dust bathe in other places. They always pick places that are mostly dirt such as flower beds though, so giving them a dust bath might help in your case
They may use it if they like it but they'll likely still dig holes elsewhere. My free range chickens have dust baths and more often than not they choose to make their own. I live on very sandy soil though so maybe that's the difference.
You can try to provide dust baths. Chances are good, however, that they'll continue to use what they want, where they want. I tried using baby wading pools to make dust baths, but I obviously don't understand what makes one site more attractive than another for a bathing location because they won't use them. They insist in using holes along the fences and making new ones as opportunities arise. If having a nice lawn is a priority, you'll likely end up keeping them in a run and not letting them free-range. At least in my situation, letting mine free-range is saying that I don't give a crap about the lawn, so watch your step because there are holes everywhere. Of course, I don't consider it a lawn. I just think of the property as pasture that has a house plunked down in it
