Dust bath for hens

baaba maal

Hi

I have four hens and want to put a dust bath in. My thinking is- regular car tyre placed on covered part of run, backfill with ordinary sand (not sharp sand).
Does this sound ok or do they need a bigger area to dust bathe in?

thanks

aonb

sounds good to me. you will probably find that all four hens will squash in to it together - so cute!

Oh and if you're a fan of Diatomaceous Earth, you could put some in the sand too, to help prevent any mites/fleas/lice etc etc

baaba maal

thanks for that aonb- I'm trying to do things as simply as possible so the tyre sort of suggested itself!
Had heard about the diatomaceous earth but never really read any further. Seems ideal- a bit concerned about the effect on pollinators but the run will be devoid of flowering plants for a long time due to the four ladies "scorched earth" policy!
Not sure if my local agri supplies place will stock it, but I'll be asking anyway.

thanks again:)

aonb

Ive read such good things about Diatom Earth - I got some after a Red Mite infestation - so Im happy with it - got it online from Willow Farm Organic - in Roscommon - you can google them. As you say, it would be harmful to Pollinators, but if your hens have a bare earth policy (!), that would resolve that issue hopefully

baaba maal

Good stuff- I think I will try Willow Farm. Last question- apart from mixing it through the sand initially, I presume I should be topping up the diatom every couple of weeks?

thanks

aonb

I dont use it in a dust bath (only because ours is about 8ftx3ft!) but I sprinkle tons of it into every crevice of their coops when I clean them. I think Willow Farms is food-grade diatom, so you can dust the hens with it, put it in their food, rub it into your dogs/cats fur too. I guess for your dust bath, it would depend on how much of the dirt gets thrown out of the dust bath (you could put the dirt back into the tyre every now/then?) Theres a website I use that has lots of discussions on Diatom - downthelane.net - the chicken keeping forum is great - handy for info sharing and advise etc.

baaba maal

Great advice all round!