Last Updated on February 19, 2024 by AwesomeChickens
Are you sick of your chickens digging up your lawn or garden? Are you fed up with them scratching up your plants or destroying your flower beds? If so, it may be time to learn how to make a dust bath for chickens.
Chickens need dust baths to keep themselves clean and bug-free, and they will take one with or without a dedicated space. So, if you want your chickens to take a dust bath somewhere that won’t destroy plants or make a mess, you may want to make them their bathing spot.
Lucky for you, we know just how to make the perfect chicken dust bath and will give you all the tips and tricks you need to know to keep your flock happy.
Table of Contents
How To Make a DIY Chicken Dust Bath
Making a chicken dust bath shouldn’t be a long-drawn-out process. It will only take you a few minutes and is worth the effort. Here is how we suggest making the perfect dust bath for your flock.
Step 1. Find Space
Back yard chicken coops have the convenience of creating a dust bathing area out of just about anything you have laying around that is shallow enough for your chickens to jump into. Some of the frequently used items include:
- Wooden pallets or wood shavings
- A sandbox
- A kiddie pool
- Old logs
- Shallow bins
- Old rubber tires
If you would prefer to dig a hole near the chicken coop, that is also a great option.
Step 2: Add Filler
Once you have chosen the right spot for the chicken’s dust bath and you know what container you want to use, you need to fill it with dirt and ash, so your chickens have plenty of dry dirt to get things nice and dusty.
Any soil from your lawn or gardens will be perfect for the job; you can also run to the hardware store and grab some peat moss or topsoil if you’d prefer not to take it from your yard.
Second, you will want to get a good amount of wood ash; it can come from the burn pile (as long as there are no other burnt materials in it that can harm your flock.) The wood ash is going to keep insects from invading the chicken dust bath and causing an infestation.
Step 3: Dust Bath Mixture
Fill your container up with half wood ash and half-dry dirt. Mix it thoroughly. Keep the dirt bath as dry as possible; you do not want your chickens taking mud baths.
It is a great time to add safe weeds and plants to the soil along with fresh or dried herbs. Herbs such as basil, oregano, parsley, mint, and lavender are perfectly safe for your chickens and serve two positive purposes.
Good for their Health: Many of the herbs you can purchase dry or grown on your own provide a lot of nutritional value to your chicken’s diet and gut health. Herbs like basil can boost chicken’s immune systems, lavender is great for blood circulation and stress relief, and lemon balm is high in antibacterial properties.
Repels Insects: Most herbs (especially when dried) will keep the insect and other little pests away from your chicken’s dust bath. It will keep your chickens from becoming infested with things such as mites or lice. It will prevent them from pecking at parasites that may give them worms.
Step 4: Add a Chicken Garden (optional)
You can consider adding a grazing and pecking garden next to your dust bath. This is another way to help chickens stay healthy while they do their thing. You can add plants and vegetation such as:
- Lavender
- Basil
- Dill parsley
- White clover
- Sunflowers
- Garlic
- Beets
- Cucumber corn
- Dandelions
These are only a few of the many plants you should consider adding to your chicken bathing area; it will keep them healthy and happy and keep them out of yours.
Why Chickens Require a Dust Bath Area
Now you know how to make a dust bath, but do you know why your chickens need one? Believe it or not, chickens cover themselves in dust and dirt to keep themselves clean and healthy.
Sounds a bit strange, right? It may sound a little out there, but give us a minute, and it will start to make sense.
Chickens have oil glands that often kick into high gear and overproduce. Since chickens use their feathers to evenly distribute the oils around their bodies the oil can get overwhelming.
This is where the dirt and ash come into play. When there is too much oil for your bird to control, they will take a quick romp around the dust pile and allow the loose dirt to soak up all the extra oil. So, while dust bathing may be fun for your chicken, it is also very refreshing.
The second reason a dust bath is very crucial to your flock’s health. It keeps insects and parasites at bay. When coated in dry dust, pests such as mites and lice cannot survive for long, keeping an infestation from inhabiting your chicken coop.
How Do Chickens Take a Dust Bath?
Once your chicken is ready to take a dust bath, you are going to know it. Not only are you going to see one chicken crouched down scratching and flapping its wings, but it’s likely the whole flock will be there too.
Dust bathing is essential for the health of a chicken. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy it as well. This will usually turn into the social event of the night. When one chicken starts to kick the dust-up, the rest will follow.
Dust Bathing
When your chickens have decided it is bath time, they will go to an area (their dust bath if they have one) and start to scratch at the ground until they have a space to sit in. They will then crouch down and start flapping their wings while continuing to scratch.
You will see them swaying, rolling, and flopping all around, allowing the dirt to cover them from beak to tail. After about 15 minutes or so, your birds will get up and move along.
Final Thoughts
Dust baths are essential for your chicken to maintain good physical and mental health and are a natural part of life for many animals to stay clean and pest-free. Making your dust bath is super simple to do, and your chickens will be happy you did.
