[tortzblue]

Hi again. What do you fill your dust bath with? I've heard good and bad about sharp sand. Is it ok? or should it be regular dry earth or any other ideas please?
My girls have a small movable run on grass so would not make their own dust bath. So I need to provide something in a cat litter tray perhaps but what should I fill it with?

[Dopey113]

If they have any outside ground to use, they will make there own dust bath, if they have a very large aria to run about in, they will make a few of them themselves

[Mrs.Apron]

I heard that silver sand (play sand), mixed with dry garden earth and some diatom mixed in makes a good dust bath.

[ehs284]

Go to garden centre. Buy the most expensive plants. Put them anywhere, in any soil or situation. Allow chooks to see them. They will show you that the best dust bath is exactly where you put in your plants.

[rocker]

My Bantams have cleared all the weeds from what was the growing area. they now, dig a  hole next to the fence which is in the shade, they dust themselves in their own pit, quite entertaining
Regards
rocker

[Markw]

I was reading somewhere that old bonfire ash made a good dust bath 

[jhub]

My hens always site their dust baths by the run borders- right up against the wire, the current ones are about a foot deep, talk about an invite for Mr. fox!

[tortzblue]

Thanks for ideas - I guess it's a case of seeing what works best. Think I'll pass on the expensive plants one tho!

[kopperdrake]

Mine like to make theirs in molehills. Mr mole doesn't like that so makes another hill a bit away. The chickens turn it into another bath, the moles moves a few more feet, so follow the chooks...

...needless to say it was like the Somme after one season.

In all seriousness though, mine tend to favour making their own on the south side of some sort of structure that gives shelter from the north and warms them from the sun to the south - these include against a gate, against an old oak (this is their favourite as the ground is always dry underneath), under hedges, against tall solid fences. The only times they have veered from this need to make one against a south-facing structure is the mole hill massacre, but then come on, how could they resist, it was half dug for them anyway.

Still makes me laugh, seeing from a distance a chicken's head pop up out of the ground only to find her body entirely submerged in excavated mole hole

[devonbarmygardener]

One of my chicken chums at the allotment bought the yellow sand that you normally get for budgie cages and the girls pecked at it like it was grit?!?

We've read that silver sand is the best but surely not industrial grade silver sand that you get from the big DIY stores??

I have a chinchilla and the dust he bathes in is very very very fine. Might this be any good?

Emma

[tortzblue]

Mmmm not sure. I think I read somewhere it mustn't be too fine cos it can irritate their lungs? Oh I dunno! But thanks again everyone for your thoughts.

[Lawrence]

Sorry I don't have Chickens yet, but I used to have Chinchillas and they used a dust bath.
There is a special sand you can buy at the pet shop, it was not expensive and if you put it in a big container then it lasted for ages(otherwise it got spread around the room!)
I hope this helps.

[farmerGiles]

My hens bathe in a small patch of covered soil (photo).

[Dawnuss]

I use chinchilla sand for my dwarf hamsters and always have and its never causes them harm and their lungs must be tiny obviously chooks may be different but surely it should be fine as its non toxic etc. I could be totally wrong but just a thought 

[devonbarmygardener]

At least chinchilla dust is soft - it's not particularly dusty. Might be right though.

I read that you have to be careful with some sands though because if they peck at it (like grit) it can cause irritation of the stomach lining.

Emma