Added a simple dust bath area and saw a huge difference in my birds' feather quality

I have 8 hens in a small suburban setup near Cleveland and they were always looking a little rough, especially during molt. After about 3 months of just letting them scratch in the dirt, I finally built a dedicated dust bath area in a corner of the run. I used a shallow plastic tub filled with a mix of sand, wood ash, and a little diatomaceous earth. Within two weeks I could see the difference, their feathers got cleaner and they stopped picking at each other so much. Has anyone else noticed their chickens using a dust bath more if you put a little roof over it to keep it dry?

2 comments

2 Comments

victorcoleman1mo ago

Wait... just wood ash and sand? No one told me about wood ash. I've been using straight play sand and diatomaceous earth this whole time... never even thought to toss ash in there.

stella3071mo ago

Did you try it with charcoal dust instead? Found that in a survival blog once.