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

[Katyed]

Hi

 

Two weeks till the eglu arrives!

 

I have seen mention of dust baths. Can anyone tell me their purpose and whether they are essential or not?

 

Thanks

[Maccbean]

Not sure if they are essential, but the chickens really do like them. I put a big trug of compost, sand and a bit of diatom in about a week after the girls arrived, and within five minutes three of them got in at the same time, enough said!

 

I let them out to freerange yesterday and brought the trug out to try and dry off the compost a bit in the sun. Two of the girls used it then, whilst SW chose a different spot by digging a big hole in the dirt area where our summer pool has just been taken down!

[Gamebird]

I think it's instinct that tells them to dust bathe to keep the bugs at bay and it probably feels good too.

 

Mine make their own dust baths by digging holes in the soil.

[Snowy]

They are essential - dustbathing is the chickens way of getting rid of skin/feather parasites!

But you don't need to go to great trouble for them! You can make them one with sand, dry compost, dusty soil and woodash - in whatever proportion you have available, and lace it with diatom or louse powder for self administration. But they will probably turn their noses up at it and dig their own under your favourite garden shrub or plant pot. This pot used to have daffodils in it.

[Electricbarbarella]

I had a trug, they loved it but knocked it over very quickly, how do you round that?

[chelsea]

we have a shallow tubtrug and the girls love it. They use it every day so I would certainly say a dustbath is essential

[Hen Watch]

Even though my girls dustbath in the garden, they still have a dustbath permanently in their run and use it frequently either to dustbathe or general scratching around in the mud if they are confined to their run.

 

It becomes really important in Winter when outside earth is too soggy to dustbathe in.

 

I bought a plastic underbed storage box (they are selling them in my local Morrisons at the moment for £4 each). It is quite big, but then it fits 3 chooks at once and is low enough not to get knocked over. I just fill it with bone dry earth from Hubbies greenhouse.

 

[mostin]

I would say it is essential. Our girls kept flying over the omlet netting until we realised the only reason they were escaping was to get to their favourite dustbath. We find they love the soil under conifer trees where it is very dry and sandy. We are very lucky and have a large garden. Now each time we move their run we make sure we include at least one tree within the netting and they have not tried to escape since.

 

But they all bathe together at least twice a day