It never ceases to amaze me how great my chickens are at digging holes! They love to scratch around, wiggle down and flap around the dirt To keep themselves clean, chickens take dust baths This summer, I’m working on making a dedicated area for my chickens’ dust bath I’ll keep you posted on if they actually use this area or if they continue to just dig dust baths wherever they want Haha!
How to Build a Winter Dust Bath for Your Chickens
Fortunately, there is a way to keep your chickens cozy and clean this winter with an indoor dust bath Read on for tips and steps on
Adding Enrichments to the Coop
You’ve probably heard the phrase “busy as a bee” Not to knock how productive bees are, but have you seen how busy chickens can be? If your chickens have access to a large area to free range, you probably know that they’re up before dawn and they don’t stop wandering around, scratching and searching for food until the sun goes down They’re naturally very active animals The only time the stop for rest is at night
Chickens that are kept in a coop still have that same desire to be busy Without something to do, chickens
The Perfect Dust Bath
Have you noticed your chickens laying around in a dusty spot, kicking dust all over themselves? Chickens love to roll around in the dirt and dust It may sounds backwards to ‘bathe’ in dust, but chickens have good reason for rolling around in the dirt When chickens cover themselves in dust, they are doing so in order to take care of their feathers and skin Chickens can easily become infested with external parasites like mites, fleas, ticks and other insects
Most of these insects prefer to hop onto patches of clean skin that they can easily gnaw through to get