Chicken Dust Baths

Gotta deal with those chicken mites...

The chickens have a routine of dust bathing among the lilacs in the early afternoon, but there are a few additions that work well to get rid of mites and other crawling insects. 

Diatomaceous earth is the main thing; it's pulverized diatoms (microscopic organisms made of silica) which shred the insects that walk over them. Wood ash can also help. Sulfur dust is good at repelling parasites. 

This website has percentages for mixing the different ingredients. 

I picked up a few buckets of sand for free from someone on Facebook marketplace. We already had diatomaceous earth and sulfur from past gardening years. I collected a bucket of ash from our fire pit. Then I mixed everything in a tote. 

A tire holds an awful lot of sand, etc.

Finally ready!

And look, one of the infected mamas used it right away! 

She rolled all over, flipping sand everywhere. Those mites don't stand a chance! 

One tire doesn't allow for much chicken bathing. We didn't have many options to add another. Then, on our way to church Sunday we noticed someone had dumped a couple tires in a center median. I half jokingly said we should take them home with us. A few days later, one tire was gone, but the thick one was still there...

G swung by after work and picked it up for me as a surprise. 😊

Nice and deep for chickens to dig. 

I used up the last of the sand and the collected ash. It didn't come quite up to the top, but I think it'll be okay. They won't be able to scratch so much out this way. 

Someone else enjoys getting dust baths...

He's been mesmerized by the gravel in the driveway. He spun in an entire circle checking out all the gravel. And surprisingly only one rock ended up in his mouth!