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DorianGray

Dustbaths

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Hello

 

Please would someone give me some advice on (or provide me a link to) dustbaths during the wet weather.

 

Our 4 girls spend most of their time in their extended run & we're concerned that they're net getting sufficient chance to have a decent "wash".

 

I'm thinking that a cat litter tray would be a good "tub", but I'm a little stuck on what to fill it with, and to what depth.

 

All suggestions gratefully received.

 

(red eglu)

Cilla

Audrey

Cluckey

Pecky.

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My girls are in the run + entension, and they have a large flower-pot filled with a mixture of playsand from Homebase and spent potting compost. I put a few crocks in the bottom, and filled it up to near the top. They promptly threw half of the mixture out, and seemed to eat some of it too (why, oh why?!).

They do use it as a dustbath, and as a perch/look-out post. Sometimes when one of them is laying, Bertha will patrol up and down the run and, if the flowerpot is in her way, she'll walk straight over the top of it...

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That's lovely!

 

http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eflytesofancy%2eco%2euk%2fchickenhouses%2fDuck_and_Goose_Houses%2ehtml&WD=dust%20bath&PN=POULTRY_EQUIPMENT_OFFERS%2ehtml%23a1_21FSDB#a1_21FSDB

 

 

or put dust bath into the search box

 

Mine have dug a hole at the base of an apple tree, ignoring a lovely wooden trug, a belfast sink and a preserving pan! I then filled it with wood ash on saturday, so they ignored it for the rest of the day and used the flowerbed!

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I am so glad it is not just me!

 

A lovely big old wooden drawer, filled with play sand, compost, even a bit of hemcore. And are they interested?? Not a jot! I have even scattered corn and meal worms into it to get them interested. They spend a happy 15 mins or so scratching around to find all the food, and wander off again. Not even attempted to dust bath! :twisted:

 

Apparently the patch of earth right by the clematis roots is much better... Poor Clematis... :(

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There's just no pleasing some chickens, is there?!

I got quite a funny look when I went to the Early Learning Centre last month to ask if they sold playsand, and was told they only stocked it in the summer (I mean, what are chicken-owners meant to do?). I got a much funnier look, though, when I asked in Holland & Barratt if they sold citricidal, and was asked what it was used for. I mumbled something about 'chickens with colds' :oops: , which left the sales assistant very perplexed.

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I use a washing up bowl filled with play sand...

 

.. but lady legbar decided to uproot my potted plant today and dustbath in the pot instead :roll:

 

Did you have your camera handy? :D

made me laugh too.

:lol:

Was thinking of an old large plastic dog bed for mine in their summer run location.on concrete :(

I had forget me nots in it last spring & by autumn the had "found it" :lol:

Actually maybe thats the answer, will try planing it up with F M N & let them trash it. :D

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They are on offer with FlyteSoFancy at the moment too.

 

I find any old dry compost out of one of my pots they love (just make sure there isn't any polystyrene chips or those miracle grow granules in the compost) I just tip a bit into an area undercover for them and they make their own bath. I have also found that adding this to a large shallow plastic plant saucer worked very well for me when I had just my Eglu run as I could just about get it through the door and it didn't take up too much space in the run either. My two original girls used to both get in there and so some synchronised bathing, very comical.

 

I found 4 of mine this afternoon out in some weak winter sun doing their dust bath shimmy with the other 3 picking juice titbits from those bathing :shock::lol::lol::shock::dance:

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