arwenskye Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 do chickens create their own bath or do I need to get a tub with something in it? and if so what? sand? soil from someone very new to keeping hens Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 hello and welcome. chickens will naturally make their own in your garden if you allow them to freerange If your girls are going to be confined to the run a lot it would be good to make their own little dustbath to put in the run. (using cat litter tray/shallow tubtrug or similar) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Mine dustbathe in their run - I gave them a cat litter box thingy but they ignored it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutrix Farmers Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Mine ignore the dust bath I bought for them and have made some lovely huge craters in the garden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Bud Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Mine LOVE a washing up bowl filled with dry soil from the garden. I put it in their run and Betty especially can spend at least half and hour in there at a time! I think a washing up bowl is deep enough for them to have a proper roll in and throw the soil over themselves! It's very funny to watch. I have a video of mine in it, i just don't know how to attach it! Does anybody know how? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Hi, I just use dry garden earth. See my picture in the post by Lauren below. http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28007#top Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogs and chickens Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 I Gave mine 2 cat litter tray's full of ash from our open fire. They decided they were nest boxes and laid in the things I now leave them to make there own, which works well as they dig up a patch of garden to there liking. I now use the litter tray's as extra nest boxes in the cube house during the day. Which works well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surrey Hen Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 I wondered about using chinchilla dust. What do people think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickvic Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Hi Surrey Hen I used chinchilla sand for their dustbath, they ate some of it but they certainly enjoyed rolling in it. I've changed it to a bigger tubtrug and filled it with compost and sand. They eat that too ocassionally but love rolling about in it! It's big enough for all three but I haven't yet managed to get a picture! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
