4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Yolky]

I got one of the tub trugs and filled it with half kids sand and half compost. I then put it into the run. Buttercup was just cross because I wasn't there to free range them and the other two just boked at the new thing and now they are all ignoring it. Will they always ignore it or should I put one of them in to show them what its all about?

[abwsco]

I got one of the tub trugs and filled it with half kids sand and half compost. I then put it into the run. Buttercup was just cross because I wasn't there to free range them and the other two just boked at the new thing and now they are all ignoring it. Will they always ignore it or should I put one of them in to show them what its all about?

 

Well mine ignored the one I did for them but then I think with them being exbatts it was just too tall for them. Mine prefer to dig craters in the garden - lol

[AJuff]

Now the summer is here and kids are in the garden most days I tend to let the chooks out less due to their mess. They only dust bathe under the laurel hedge when they're out. the walk in run has Easibed down but they don't dust bathe in that. I tried filling the children's old sand/water tray but they don't seem interested in bathing in it. Should I leave a part of the run Easibed free for them?

[Butty]

Hi there

We left one side of our walk in run as soil and covered the other with hemcore. They dig huge craters in the soil and have a lovely time. They tend to leave the hemcore alone on the whole.

[moomin]

I put sand and compost into an old shallow flower pot, they love it and I think they use it everyday ('tho I don't always see cos I'm at work). The mixture goes down and I just fill it up again - they seem to like this as they jump straight in when it's full!

 

I would persevere with it. Mine don't dust bathe in the garden at all - they just scratch it all up

[Hen Watch]

I got one of the tub trugs and filled it with half kids sand and half compost.

 

They do like it nice and dry so maybe you just need to wait until the compost is very dry before they use it. I just use bone dry earth from my husbands greenhouse.

 

Mine free range daily and dustbath outside but I still keep the dustbath topped up with dry earth inside the run. I don't see them use it much but I know that they must use it as the earth gets less and less as they must flick it about. So I would keep it in the run and in Winter when there's no dry mud in the garden to dustbath in, they will use it more and more.

[Egg Lou]

Mine dive in at least twice a day!

[mayflower]

It was really funny the other day. After carrying out the big clean and opening a new bag of aubiose onto the run floor, I just had to pop into my house for a cold drink before raking out the aubiose evenly. However, when I returned the hens were having a wonderful time spreading it around for me. Because I had emptied the aubiose in a large heap, they were on top, dustbathing, kicking it around. It was like a day at the seaside.