Do your chickens have a dust pan?
This is essential for them, because it rids them of parasites!
They can take regular showers and stay healthy.
To remedy this problem, here is a super easy and economical idea!
The trick is to use old tires as dust pans for the chickens. Watch:
All you have to do is recycle the wood ashes from your wood stove or fireplace.
Remember to remove any large pieces of charcoal before.
- old tires
- wood ash
- construction sand
- earth
- food grade diatomaceous earth
- 1 shovel
- paint (optional)
1. Find a nice corner either in your chicken coop or in your yard if you have free-range chickens.
2. Paint your tires different colors if you want to make dust baths look a bit funky. This step is of course optional and you can simply keep the original color of the tyres.
3. Mix wood ash with sand, soil and diatomaceous earth in equal amounts.
4. Then fill the center of each tire with this mixture of natural "dust".
5. Let your hens enjoy this new distraction and watch them have fun and clean up in their new tub.
Lo and behold, thanks to these homemade dust baths, your hens can now roll around in the dust as much as they want :-)
They will be able to clean and deworm easily. Don't forget that it's vital for them!
Know that even if you don't provide them with dust baths, your hens will still find a way to clean themselves.
They will do it in your garden, in your flowers and there is a risk that they will ruin your flowerbeds by making holes.
So it is better to make these dust baths for them so that they can get rid of the lice and mites in their feathers.
Remember to change the mixture every 4 months or so, your hens will thank you :-)
If you don't have old tires at home, you can surely find some for free at a garage or dump near you.
