Why not just buy a dollar store plastic dishpan and put some dry earth and sand in it for them? Dustbathing gives them so much pleasure and it also helps kill external parasites.

That small, eh? Any more ideas for an instant/portable dust bath are welcome.

My wife and I are utter newbies at chicken raising, and the first time we saw them bathing - in the spring we let them roam free in the garden - we were horrified, thought they were having seizures. :)

Paul, you are not alone, I still sometimes get faked out and think someone is dead on the ground!

-Sheila

Maggie has the perfect solution for you, the dish pan should work great. Get a bag of play sand at the hardware store to fill it.

If you put the pan + sand out in the sun to get warm, then offer it to the chickens, it will be instant LOVE. You'll have a pile of dustbathing, zoned-out, practically drooling chickens, they get so relaxed. It's great fun to watch them.

If the mess bothers you, just don't put out the pan & sand every day--a couple of times a week should suffice. But your birds will be healthier, happier and have feathers in better condition if they dustbathe. It is a need, not a luxury. Heck, they may already be doing it in the dirt, that's what mine do. I have several spots in the yard with these little chicken-sized indentations.

Also, I guarantee you that you will repeatedly bolt out into the yard, heart in your mouth, after spotting one of your birds sprawled 'dead' in the yard. They will be either sunbathing or dustbathing. It's the sunbathing that fools me most often, as they just seem to drop where they stand and flop out on one side, head lolling and wing out. They don't move, except for a little breeze ruffling their feathers, until I run right up ON them--then they scare me AGAIN by suddenly jumping up and running off! I can't count how many times I've thought a hawk got one of them or something. Little stinkers!

Velvet ~:>

I read somewhere (I think on a post here) to put 1/3 each dirt, sand, and diatamaceous earth in a container for a dustbath in their pen.I did this and saw not one chicken use it. (this also turned into a gunky mess when we got heavy rain) They preferred their various spots in the yard and flowerbeds. They are really serious about a dustbath. I have put blocks of wood in planters to discourage their digging then dustbathing. Somehow they moved the wood blocks and dug out the flowers and won that battle. I've also noticed that the pecking order reveals itself in what chicken gets the best spot(s).
And I agree that it is a lovely sight to see them so content.

Claraserena is right... If the dishpan is not under a roof, it will need drainage. I would punch just a few small holes in the bottom with a hammer and nail so that not too much sand escapes.

If you have room for it, a kitty litter box might be a better choice. You'll enjoy seeing how many can squeeze in at one time.

I dumped about half a cubic yard of sand in the corner of their run and worked in a cup of diatomaceous earth. It's been raining so much I'm reluctant to add dirt. Well, the chickens love it - but not for bathing. They're rooting through it for bits of seashell. The sand comes from big piles dredged from outside the harbour - it's very clean, rain-washed.

The chickens get regular layer pellets - does this mean I should be supplementing with calcium? They already get grit, I think, from the run's dirt floor.

velvet sparrow, the other day I spent an unexpected half hour reading your website about chickens- very entertaining and educational!

my chickens created there own dust bath there pen is all dirt.How old before they actually take these dust baths? I have two that are about 10weeks old and 12 that are 4 weeks they grow so fast its just amazing to watch.I let them rome my yard when we are home.

Paul, I feed layer food and my chickens still eat their oyster shells. If yours pick them out of the beach sand that was added that is probably plenty. You can also feed them their eggshells after you use the eggs. I just toss egg shells in my bowl of scraps that I save for the chickens.

Success! We used a fish box, which is a rectangular heavy-plastic box ~15" high and wide by 30" long, half-filled it with dirt we'd sifted the rocks out of, and put it in their run last night. This morning Kathleen and Cecelia were both in there, side by side in the sun, squashing around in the dirt and filthy. You'd think it was January in Cancun. Thanks for getting us moving on this project. And we'll start giving them egg shells. Do we love our birds or what.

I've seen the chickens so zoned out the horses can nose them and they won't move.