[Zak the Rabbit]

I need advice on something deep and heavy enough to use as a good dustbath,

my girls had a terracotta plantpot, but they knock it over. How deep should the bath be to ensure they get a good doing and it doesnt keep needing to be filled?

my intention is to fill it with a mix of sharp sand, bit of soil, diatom and mite powder

[Aunt Sally]

Mine have a deep plastic box.  The storage type from wilkinsons got a picture somewhere.

Here we go:

[Knight Family]

i used a old washing up bowl, but now need something bigger.

[dawnsmith]

I use a big plastic 'trug' I bought in a garden centre. It's round, something like 22 inches across and 8 inches deep. I bought a yellow one to colour match their house  

[Aunt Sally]

Sounds great Dawn

[FCG]

Aunty, do you put your lice/mite powder in there?

[Jellyhead]

could use a cat litter tray if its cheaper

[Zak the Rabbit]

realised i had some big bits of thick plywood hanging around, me and my lad built them a box, 12" x 18" by 8" deep.

Just need to fill it up.  Thought i had some sand but cant find it.

[Aunt Sally]

Aunty, do you put your lice/mite powder in there?

Just a good handful of diatom !

[Aunt Sally]

could use a cat litter tray if its cheaper

They are too shallow Jelly.  All the bath water ends up on the bathroom floor  

[Zak the Rabbit]

yes, tried something like that before, they just chuck it all out!

i decided on 8" deep so that it will hold loads, they wont be able to empty it or tip it over, and its easy enough for them to get in

[dawnsmith]

Hi Zac
Just a thought... if you're going to make your own bath, I'd recommend going deeper than 8 inches. If it's got sturdy wooden sides, they could easily hop on to it to get in. My plastic trug is 8 inches deep and they do throw out a lot of sand. Mind you, I had a bit of good fortune with the local council - I bought 16 bags of play sand for £4.70 - so I do tend to over-fill it!!

[Zak the Rabbit]

Already built it Dawn, me and my lad knocked it up yesterday from 3/4inch plywood, pin & glued. Just need some sand for it. Popping to garden center today so will probably pop into builders yard as well.

My lad then persuaded me to build him a sword

[Jane-M]

I'm a real beginner enjoying reading the forum. Question, is a dust bath necessary? My hens have a long run of beech hedge and they ruffle about in there. Although I don't have the advantage of dosing it with mite powder as it stretches 30 odd feet. Is it as effective to dust in the wood shavings in the house and under the hens armpits at intervals?

Also can someone explain about diatom?

[Zak the Rabbit]

only a beginner myself really, so i'll leave the big question to the others. Mine dont have access to a big area of loose soil, so without the dustbath the make their own, by digging a hole! it makes the ground quite uneven after a while.

Diatom (diatomaceous earth) is a mineral. Its the silicaceous fossil exoskelletons of a type of plankton. (bit like limestone is the calcerous fossil shells of marine creatures). It has a few usefull properties, one that it is very absorbent, the other that the crystallites its made up of are very sharp, they have the effect of disrupting the bodies of the mites, causing them to dehydrate and die. (ive proved this, ive some dead mites in a petri dish on my desk, they wear live when they went in, but have had to crawl over a leayer of diatom! :twisted: )