[beki]

I'm going to create a dust bath for the chooks tomorrow out of a cat litter tray.

What should i fill it with? I was thinking of compost (the stuff you buy in bags, rather than home made).

Would this be ok?  :?

[poultrygeist]

Got our filled with sharp sand but I think anything that's dry and dusty would do them.

Some people say they sit in planters and tubs and dust bath. As long as they can chuck it over themselves I suppose they'll be happy.

Rob

[Bodger]

Make sure that the dust bath is somewhere that will keep it dry. Woodash is also a useful addition.

[Aunt Sally]

And in my opinion a cat litter tray is not deep enough.  They will throw all the dirt out and you will need to fill it up again every day.

In my chooks run I use an oblong plastic tub about 10 inches deep (£1.50 from Wilkinsons) with about 3 inches of old compost in it.  I add a good shake of diatom to it to help to keep lice away  

[Zak the Rabbit]

mine havent got one supplied yet, but have instead created their own! the have made a hollow in the soil under the ramp, and ive watched one of them using it. I will add some dry sand to keep it from becoming a mud bath

[NormandyMary]

Ours have mad a few under some overhanging Leylandi, and they love it. The baths are so deep you can only see their little heads poking over the top.....until they see you with food in your hand that is!!

[beki]

LOL i can imagine!  

We didn't get around to making one today. The girls were quite happy scratching around in the little pile of mud under their new shelf!

Think i might invest in something a bit deeper than a cat litter tray, as it sounds as if things could get a little too messy if not!  

[ness]

I second Aunties comment on a litter tray not being deep enough.  As you can see in my pic I use a litter tray and have to fill it up quite often.  They much prefer the raised flowerbed when its dry enough.


Oh and I use a mixture of compost and sand.

[Oliveview]

Before our hens were let out to ´free range´ they built their own sand bath, the first was right by the fence/wall I think they were trying the Great Escape under teh fence, the 2nd was as you went in the gate, this was like a booby trap for me when I went in to shut them in for the night.  Now they are in the garden they just make their sand baths everywhere.  Our soil is very dry/sandy though, so it is no problem for them.
Pamela (in Spain)

[Fat Hen]

I use a large ceramic planter (seen using it in the garden so moved into their covered run) in their run filled with sand and old compost from my pot plants.  Any thing low they bury/empty/re-bury with their scratching around.

Outside their run they've dug a hollow for mud/dust baths.

[beki]

Umm.. i don't think i need to make them one.. Chooky found a patch of mud under the shelf, which she spent ages scratching up for the perfect dust bath  

Scratch scratch... gotta make sure it's comfy  



Mid roll  



Well, that's one less job to do  

[poultrygeist]

You can almost hear her purring.

R