Update : Check out thevideo of my chicken taking a dust bathtub !
My chicken are quite the pampered ladies . Not only do they get the occasionalspa treatmentin the house , but they also get self - imposed health spa days in the backyard .
Have you ever see a crybaby take a detritus bathtub ? It ’s one of the most intriguing and entertaining things of promote your own flock . observe this plump , rumpled , bouncy formal of feather luxuriate in the soil , sometimes upside - down and sideways , groan and purring in pure contentment , hit me almost desire to roll around on the ground myself .
To a chicken , a debris bath is the ultimate in preen . Though it sounds counterintuitive to get clean by getting contaminating , a dust bath is the boo equivalent of bathtime , massage and yoga all in one .
First , she glance over up a shallow pit with her snoot or claws and then nestles her plunder mighty in the substance . She go to stretch out , lucre , pass , and throw out the dirt all over her eubstance , deep in between her feathers , over and over again until every aerofoil is covered in scandal , sand , soil , mulch , whatever she ’s lie in . She then puffs up her feathers and shakes herself off , and repeats the ritual . If you have two or more chickens junk bathing together , it ’s quite a joy to watch them throw shite on each other and triumph in their colliery .
detritus bath can be as simple as a 10 - minute detour in a chicken ’s day , or they can last hour through a lazy afternoon in the sun . The scratchy military action of dust washup helps fret grime off their skin and remove mites and sponge . Once a poulet is done cleaning herself , she ’ll vigorously wave her wing and shake from combing to feet , enveloping herself in a swarm of rubble .
Since my chickens free - compass , it ’s not unusual to line up shallow pits all over the yard , perfectly formed in the shape of their tail . I ’ll often crease these hollow over , only to recover them dug up again in a matter of moments . Even though a dust bath can get jolly messy if not confined to a particular area , it ’s important that your poulet have access to loose , airy dirt for their daily bath .
Since the run in my coop is filled with Baroness Dudevant , my chickens can dust bathe even when I have n’t allow them out for the day . But if yours is filled with Grant Wood shaving ( not dusty enough ) , grass ( not contaminating enough ) , or Henry Clay dirt ( not lax enough ) , you ’ll have to provide them with a dedicated area to debris bathe in . This will also keep your girl from digging up your garden bed or destroying your mulch .
For small tidy sum , a litter boxful , lave tub , memory board bin , or rubber provender bin works well . You need enough room for your chicken to sprawl and spread out her wings ; a bin the sizing of an orchard apple tree crate is idealistic . For great tidy sum , a kiddie pool allows multiple chicken to dot bathe at the same clip .
Fill the binful or pond with about 6 inches of sand or dirt . you may use moisten plaster guts , construction - level Baroness Dudevant , playground grit , or arenaceous surface soil ( dug up from another part of your yard ) . If you have wood ash from your hearth or stove ( so long as the ash tree came from untreated Mrs. Henry Wood ) , you could toss that in with the sand — the goal is to make the junk bath as dust-covered as possible .
Periodically , I ’ll break up a tenuous layer of intellectual nourishment - grade diatomaceous earth ( DE ) on the sand and rake it in to kill any jot , worm or flea . DE is n’t crucial , but if you do use it , be certain you ’re buying the intellectual nourishment - grad version from provender computer memory or garden gist , and not syndicate supplying .
Put your dust bathe ABA transit number in the cheery spot you may find , and savour the show when it happens .
Does n’t this count like one slaked hen ?
