This is a pic of our new 9 week old silkies, Rosie and Wren. After being indoors for a few rainy days they were so happy to be out in the sunshine that even wet dirt scratched their dust bathing itch! This muddy attempt at a dust bath is what inspired this post.
If chickens had a day spa, there would be no cucumber water, fluffy robes or relaxing facials. There would be dirt. Lots and lots of dirt.
Dust bathing is completely natural chicken behaviour. You’ll see them scratch out a shallow hollow, flop dramatically onto their side, kick dirt through their feathers and lie there looking either completely blissed out or possibly dead.
It might not look luxurious to us, but to a chicken, this is 5 star treatment.
So, what should be on the menu at your backyard chicken spa?
Welcome to the Chicken Spa
Today’s Treatments
The Classic Dust Bath
Fine dry soil or sand
The Wood Ash Detox
Clean, cooled wood ash
The Sulphur Spa Treatment
Powdered sulphur
The Diatomaceous Earth Treatment
Food-grade diatomaceous earth
Complimentary sunbaking included with all treatments.
No appointments necessary. Group bookings encouraged.
Why Do Chickens Dust Bathe?
Dust bathing isn't just chickens having a fabulous time throwing dirt everywhere.
As chickens work fine particles through their feathers and down towards their skin, dust bathing helps absorb excess oils and assists with normal feather maintenance. It may also help them manage external parasites such as lice and mites.
And then there's the simple fact that chickens absolutely love doing it.
Dust bathing is an instinctive behaviour, so providing somewhere suitable for it is also a great form of enrichment, particularly for chickens living in enclosed runs where they might not be able to find their own favourite patch of dry earth.
Treatment One: The Classic Dust Bath
The foundation of your chicken spa doesn't need to be complicated. Dry, fine soil or sand makes an excellent base.
You want something loose enough for your chickens to scratch around in and flick through their feathers.
If your chickens free range, they've probably already identified the most inconvenient location possible and turned it into their personal spa.
Under a tree.
Beside the garden.
Against the house.
Directly in the middle of something you were trying to grow.
Naturally.
For chickens kept in a run, you can create a designated dust bath using a shallow tub, old tyre, timber box or another wide container that gives them plenty of room to perform the full dust-bathing extravaganza.
The most important thing is keeping it dry.
Treatment Two: The Wood Ash Detox
Next on the spa menu is wood ash.
Fine wood ash works beautifully through feathers and has traditionally been added to chicken dust baths.
Only use ash from clean, untreated wood that has completely cooled.
Avoid ash from treated or painted timber, plastics, rubbish, coal, manufactured fire products or anything else that could leave unwanted chemicals behind.
Mix a small amount through your regular dust bath rather than filling the entire bath with ash.
Your chickens will handle the rest.
Treatment Three: The Sulphur Spa
Now we're moving into the premium treatment package.
Sulphur is another traditional addition to the chicken dust bath, particularly when external parasites such as mites and lice are a concern.
Here in Australia, red poultry mite is one of the main mites to watch for and is considered the mite causing the most problems in Australian poultry. Unlike some mites that spend most of their time on the chicken, red mites tend to hide in cracks, crevices, underneath perches and around nesting boxes during the day, then emerge at night to feed.
This means a dust bath alone isn't going to solve a red mite infestation.
Regularly check your chickens as well as their coop, particularly underneath perches and inside those lovely little cracks and hiding places that mites adore. Keeping the coop clean and dry and providing access to dust bathing are all useful parts of managing external parasites.
If you're adding sulphur to your chicken spa, use an appropriate product and follow the directions carefully. More isn't necessarily better.
Think of the sulphur spa as one part of good flock and parasite management, rather than a replacement for checking your birds and keeping their hen house clean.
Very relaxing.
Unless you're a mite.
Treatment Four: Diatomaceous Earth
Food-grade diatomaceous earth, commonly called DE, is another popular addition to backyard chicken dust baths.
DE is an extremely fine powder made from fossilised microscopic aquatic organisms called diatoms.
Many chicken keepers use food-grade DE as part of their approach to managing external parasites.
However, there's an important consideration.
DE is incredibly dusty.
You don't want your chickens, or yourself, breathing clouds of fine particles.
If you choose to use food-grade diatomaceous earth, use it sparingly and mix a small amount thoroughly through the dust-bath material rather than leaving piles of loose DE for chickens to roll directly in.
And remember, food-grade is the important bit.
So, What's the Mother Clucker Spa Blend?
You don't need an exact complicated recipe.
Start with a generous base of dry soil or sand, then add smaller amounts of:
-
Clean wood ash
-
Powdered sulphur, used according to product directions
-
Food-grade diatomaceous earth, used sparingly
Mix everything through well and place the dust bath somewhere protected from rain.
Then stand back.
The girls will take it from there.
Where Should You Put a Chicken Dust Bath?
A dust bath is only useful if it stays dusty.
Choose somewhere dry, shaded and protected from rain where possible.
Under a covered section of the chicken run is ideal.
Make it big enough for more than one chicken, because apparently personal space is not included at the chicken spa.
One hen will find the bath.
Another will join her.
Then another.
Before long, you'll have six chickens piled into one dirt-filled container while an identical empty bath sits 30 centimetres away.
Because chickens.
The Chicken Spa Is Officially Open
Providing a dust bath is one of the easiest enrichment activities you can give your flock.
It allows chickens to perform an instinctive natural behaviour, helps with normal feather maintenance and gives them something they genuinely enjoy.
And compared with the price of a human spa day?
A bucket of dirt is an absolute bargain.
So find a dry corner, mix up the spa treatment and let the girls indulge.
Robes optional.
Mother Clucker Trading Co.
For people who take their chickens seriously, but not themselves.
