- Joined
- May 27, 2012
- Messages
- 5,192
- Location
- Bellmere, QLD
- Website
- www.selfsufficientme.com
- Climate
- Sub-Tropical
Here's a tip for backyard chicken owners to help keep their chickens happy and healthy:
Have a place in your pen or yard where your chickens can go for a dust bath. This can be as simple as a patch of dry dirt made naturally by the hens or purpose built like a sand pit with loose dirt/sand for the chickens to use.
Dust bathing helps the chickens naturally rid themselves of parasites like mites and lice. It also keeps their skin and feathers healthy plus dust bathing just makes them happy
In good weather, chickens will usually dust bath once a day for about 15-30 minutes. Chickens are well adapted to dust bathing; first, they will disturb the soil and rake it into a dusty hole then they will sit in the hole and roll whilst kicking and flicking the dust all over themselves - it's quite a site to see...
Have a place in your pen or yard where your chickens can go for a dust bath. This can be as simple as a patch of dry dirt made naturally by the hens or purpose built like a sand pit with loose dirt/sand for the chickens to use.
Dust bathing helps the chickens naturally rid themselves of parasites like mites and lice. It also keeps their skin and feathers healthy plus dust bathing just makes them happy
In good weather, chickens will usually dust bath once a day for about 15-30 minutes. Chickens are well adapted to dust bathing; first, they will disturb the soil and rake it into a dusty hole then they will sit in the hole and roll whilst kicking and flicking the dust all over themselves - it's quite a site to see...