Why don't they dust bathe?

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Icemaiden

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After a few days I thought that my hens had been dust bathing, as I saw scratched up soil in the greenhouse. However, it turns out that this is where the girls scratch the ground as they make their (always anti-clockwise; why? :-)02 ) procession around the hanging feeder.

My stepdad suggested that the soil inside the greenhouse wasn't dry enough for dust bathing, so I bought them a cat litter tray, put a couple of inches of dry soil in it together with a little wood ash (from the log burner) and a sprinkling of diatom, mixed it all up & left it on the floor in the greenhouse. However, apart from walking through it, they don't seem to have used it at all.

Am I doing something wrong, or do they just not want to dust bathe? Is the "dust" too shallow, at about 2"?
 
I think dust bathing may well be another new skill they'll need to learn in time, but also yes, 2ins is nowhere near deep enough for what they would like. They need a large box or similar container, at least a foot deep, with at least 6 ins of play sand or dry earth in it for them to dig and wallow in. They really get down in it, throw it up over their wings and get it right into their feathers - and then they stand up and shake it all out, like a dry shampoo. It's very funny to watch and they do so love doing it, especially when the sand is warm in summer. If you don't have a dust bath which is big and deep enough, they will scatter the contents all over the place when digging or shaking themselves, and will tip a shallow tray over when they stand on the edge. I use what was once an old plastic base from a large water butt, upside down of course, and this is round so they like it even more. It's a very effective way if getting them to treat themselves with diatom as it gets right into the feathers in a way which is hard to manage just by sprinkling them yourself.
 
Most chickens love to dust bath but they do need some nice dry earth or the equivalent. If you dig a patch of earth 2' x 2' they will start to scratch around in it and when it's dry, use that area for dusting, or use a deeper container as Marigold suggests.
 
I've noticed ours dust bathe only when the sun is out Icemaiden. From what I gather sun is in short supply over there at the moment. As Chuck says the dug patch of earth will become a dust bath in time. Then you can add the potash. That's the system we will be using over here to control red mite.
 
I've been wondering what to do as there is NO chance of finding any dry earth around here. I have 2 things I could use to make a dust bath, an old Belfast sink whihc probably isn't big enough, and the bottom of an old fibreglass cold water tank which is 2' x 2' 6" but only 6" deep. Would that be OK? I'd need another shelter to put it in and would have to get some sharp sand/small bag of topsoil to put in it, with some ash from the wood burner. Is it worth doing at the moment if they only dust bath when the sun's shining?
 
6 ins is a bit shallow. Trouble is they scatter and waste it if not deep enough. A large plastic box would do, it doesnt have to be heavy as the weight of the sand etc holds it down. Importsnt to have it in a dry place though, under cover.
 
You can simply screw cladding boarding together to make a rectangle . The bath doesn't need a base Icemaiden.
 
I used the litter tray because the earth in the greenhouse soaks up moisture from the ground outside, so I thought the litter try would prevent that & keep the soil drier.

Having read your comments, I'll try filling the litter tray right up, & see if that makes a difference. I might have to dry out some soil from the garden on top of the log burner though!
 
My hens since there is no more plans in the wooden planter in their run they started to dust bath overther tottally ignoring tyre.I gues size matter to them as this box is huge and hens like to share their dust baths.In the tyre one at any time.Maybe is not about depth more of the width for them,the more the merrier :D
 
You could try one of those plastic storage boxes, anything between 6'" & 12". They do like to share, which is why I suggested 2' x 2'.
 
I use a sandpit I got from Argos in the sale. It had soil, sand and DM. It is brilliant and can crowd quite a few hens in. I must say it is put away for now as I dont have any cover over my run.
 
HI, my birds are dust bath-a-holics. This winter they've been stuck in their run since the hawks over here have been looking for the buffet. SO, they are not out. The ground in there is pretty darn packed by now. SO, I took an old kiddie pool, a few bags of soil, a bag of sand, and a bag of grit. Mixed it all up in there, and it's pretty dang funny when you are trying to work, and they are trying to get in the way. Well anyway, throw in some wood ash for mite control, and they have their own little spa. I had the kiddie pool from my duck attempt. Allergic to duck eggs, so...
 
Good suggestion there NovaAman. Interesting you use wood ash (potash in England) for red mite control. We do the same in France but of course in England wood burners are rare with laws about smoke pollution. And you have to burn a lot of wood to get some ash.

First time I have heard of an allergy to duck eggs.
 
Well, not in England... In the US... I live around a lot of trees. Always have branches and the ocassional tree that falls. SO, chop it up, throw it in the burn pit, light it up in the spring and fall, or any time in between when it's full of wood.

I understand that it is because duck eggs are higher in sulfer content than chicken. I get sick, almost like food poisoning anytime I ate them. They taste so good and rich! And in baking, wonderful. BUT, I had 2 campbells and 2 buffs. They were a hoot. Love the ducks, but so much work, and people around here are to snottish to eat a duck egg. If they only knew store eggs come from chickens butts...
 
Love American English NovaAman. Certainly not being sarcastic or anything. Linguaphone used to do a course in American English. So much has become part of the English language.
Burn pit -Bonfire
Fall -Autumn
Hoot -Great fun?
Snottish -Stuck-up
Store -Supermarket
and my favourite... Butts -Backsides or Bottoms
 
Yes to all. LOL. I wouldn't have taken it as sarcastic. I know sarcastic. Usually I excell at it. BUT, I have a tendency to wait till I know the people so they know I am just having fun.

Gracious... No spell check. Man, this could be messy.
 
Now I've worked out that by potash you don't mean potassium carbonate or chloride (there was me thinking that the dust bath could be very expensive to fill...), what ratio of soil to wood ash should I use? Dry wood ash is easier to come by here than dry soil at this time of year...

How much (what %) diatom should I be adding?
 
Too much wood ash gets a bit messy when they shake their feathers and is actually quite dusty and greasy as well. I add about 5-10% I think, I don't weigh it out, it's like making pastry where I just go on adding flour until it feels right! I add the diatom on top so when they go in they get the full benefit, at least the first time or two. Again, maybe 5%?
For the rest I use 50% washed play sand and the rest dry earth. If its wet ATM I spread it out in baking trays in a warm oven and it soon dries out. Makes the roast potatoes taste a bit crunchy though.
 
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