BuryFCA1 Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Me and my wife had our first egg yesterday from our hens that we have had for 5 weeks However, I did notice that as our girl went into the nesting box she was scratching away for a good hour in the nesting box on the floor in the corner. What is this all about? Is she dusting herself down? Also, if she is dusting down then we obviously dont give our girls a good enough dust bath. What is the easiest way of giving them a good dust bath they can use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Sounds like she's just making a nice nest. One of my girls is a bit of a drama queen and takes ages to get every piece of bedding in the right place before she lays. For the dustbath any deep container will do or they'll have the dirt all over the place. My OH screwed some planks together to make mine but you can use a cat litter tray, car tyre, large flower pot............. I fill it with old potting compost, garden earth some play sand and diatom. As long as the girls roll in it any kind of dirt seems to be ok and some use ash giving a curious effect on white hens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeky Chooky Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Congratulations on your first egg I agree with Plum, sounds like your girl's just making sure everything is 'just so' I use plastic dog beds as dust baths and the same as Plum, I use a mixture of compost/garden soil, play sand and Diatom. Most of my girls use them but some prefer the floor of the WIR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubababe Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 I use a cat litter tray & fill it with a mix of soil, play sand, Diatom & ash (when we have a fire) They do scratch it everywhere but thoroughly enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
