Chicken bald back

[Rosalie]

I've bought a litter tray to make a dust bath is it a mixture of compost and sand or just sand?

[Pottage]

I put compost and diatrom in mine. Not that they've ever bother to use it yet!

[Beantree]

It needs to be children's play sand Rosalie, or kiln dried, or washed. Ordinary builders sand has a lot of salt content. I would add an equal amount of soil and a little potash, if you have it. A friend of ours put just washed sand in his soil bath and the chickens ate it !!!! Wandering about with rock solid crops of sand, so he took it out. It may have been because it was just sand. Fortunately no fatalities. Diatom and potash is very dusty, so the addition of it must be in small amounts. It is used to control lice.

[Egluntyne]

Mine like to dust bathe in potting type compost. Not the sort you 'brew' at home.

[Chickabee]

Mine have a mixture of play sand, potting compost, ash (from wood) and DE. They still prefer making their own dust baths though

[Rosalie]

Thankyou I have bought play sand Beantree

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I gave up making "official" dust baths. They just do it where they fancy .

[Alex_LJZ]

Always an interesting debate. I use grit sand or course river sand in my run, (and dust bath).

 

I have found plently of online advice that gritsand is better than playsand because it isn't so fine, has less dust and contains less silica. here for example: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/09/chicken-coop-bedding-sand-litter.htm

 

I think the key is that it should be washed sand, or preferably river sand rather than crushed rock.

 

My hens make dustbaths wherever they fancy. in the flower beds, in the sand..... I let them out most days in a small orchard which has bark chips for weed control and one insistes on making dust baths in this, which isn't dusty at all.