DIY Dust Baths for Chickens
With the chill of Autumn in the air and morning frosts starting to appear, it’s time to make a new dust bath for wintertime for my chickens.
Here are some tips for making a dust bath chickens love, based on many years of experience.
I grew up on a hobby farm, and we kept chickens when I was a child.
Since quitting my corporate jobs four years ago, I have had more time for my acerage gardens, chickens and for looking after my health and living life.
I have had more than 20 chickens over the years, and turned an old tool shed into a chicken coop.
A dust bath is a necessary component of chicken health in a few different ways.
Best if all, they LOVE it!
I’ve watched them dance, twirl and flutter in their dust bath tub and outside in the dirt too.
Sometimes there are 3 in the bin at the same time – all twisting and rolling – having a grand time.
As much as it is entertaining for both me and the chickens, dust baths are extremely useful when it comes to keeping mites, ticks and parasites at bay.
It also helps them remove excess oil, dirt, dead skin cells and washes their feathers.
Dust baths help hens stay cool and happy in the summer,and heathy happy and parasite free in the winter.
They need access to a dust bathing area in a well-ventilated and shaded area.
In the winter months when stuck in the coop, especially for us up here in the northern hemisphere and cold climate, it is important to have a dust bath bin inside the coop to prevent mites, parasites and all the other benefits in the cold months as well.
One last tip, keep the bin as clean as possible! I use a cat litter scoop to clean it every day, works great.
Here is the kind of tub I like to use.
I always use the same dust bath bin and recipe.
It works well, smells great, and the chickens love it!
It has all the right ingredients to do what’s necessary to keep my chickens happy and healthy.
Here are the ingredients I use, and the steps I use to make a chicken dust bath.
- Get a clean, good sized rubber tote (not plastic as it’s too brittle in the cold and won’t hold up as well)
2. Place the tub in an area of your coop that you feel is best.
Tip: Choose a location that is well ventilated and far away from your water container, since the dust bath ingredients fly into the air as the chickens flop around in the dust bath.
3. Add in a bag of clean sand (play sand for children).
5. Mix in an equal amount of loose dirt, and mix it with a shovel.
5. Add in an equal amount of pure wood ash that only had non-treated wood burnt in it ( this is just plain firewood) and mix it thoroughly.
6. Add in equal amounts of food grade diatomaceous earth into it.
Tip: I buy my diatomaceous earth in bulk, since I use it in their water supply to also help combat internal parasites every spring and fall.
7. Finally, sprinkle some chicken friendly herbs like rosemary, sage, mint and lavender or lemon balm into the mix. You will only need a small handful of each.
Despite the different aromas, dust baths don’t usually attract flies.
Mix it all in, and you’re good to go!
Sometimes they poop in the bin, so it may need cleaning out once in awhile.
My dust baths are usually good for six months before they need to be completely changed.
Tips
Do not use: cat litter, coal ash, commercial/synthetic fire log ash, clay or sawdust as ingredients for your dust bath as they are toxic.
Also do not be tempted to use that “free” sand on the side of roads or set aside for sanding roadways, because this is also full of toxins.
Every ingredient needs to be as pure and clean as possible to ensure the continued good health of your chickens.
