Chickens clean themselves through a process we call dust bathing. Here’s what it is, why they do it, and why it’s important!
Keeping a chicken coop clean isn’t the only thing you need to worry about when you keep chickens. You need to make sure the chickens themselves are clean!
Chickens clean themselves in what we call a dust bath. But can they make their dust bath?
Yes and no.
Chickens can naturally make their dust baths with loose, dry soil they find around a homestead.
But as chicken keepers, we can boost their dust bath to provide them with things that will keep them healthy, and even control pests!
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Why Do Chickens Need a Dust Bath?
This is critical, so take notes – bold – chickens aren’t meant to be wet.
Chicken feathers are water-repellent. But if a chicken itself gets wet and the weather stays damp and chilly, the chicken will have a harder time warming up.
Being wet also makes them susceptible to respiratory infections.
Because a healthy, happy chicken is the goal, we want to keep them as dry as possible! A dust bath is a great way to make that happen.
A dust bath also acts as a natural insecticide for backyard chickens.
As they roll around in the dirt and work the dust through their feathers and over their skin, the chickens are suffocating and dislodging any mites, fleas, lice, or other external parasites.
Finally, a dust bath is a social benefit to chickens. They love bathing together and they love to soak in the sun.
How Does a Chicken Take a Dust Bath?
A chicken taking a dust bath is almost like a toddler that’s been let loose in a bubble bath.
A chicken will find a patch of loose dirt, shady or sunny, and work through the dirt with their beak. As they dig a well, they will begin flopping about, working the dirt through their feathers.
You may see your chickens sprawl their legs, extend their wings, and preen themselves. It’s all to clean themselves.
Dust bathing isn’t the only way a chicken can preen themselves. They can keep their feathers waterproof! They have a gland near the base of their tail, called the uropygial gland, that secretes what they need to keep their feathers waterproofed and shiny.
You may see chickens working their heads through their feathers when they aren’t dust bathing. They are likely moving around the oil secreted from the uropygial gland.
At the end of a dust bath, you may notice your chicken get up and ruffle their feathers. This will send excess dust everywhere! This is normal. It’s also an effective way to remove any additional dust the chicken doesn’t need.
Do Chickens Need Regular Dust Baths?
Chickens need regular dust baths. This is how they can keep themselves clean!
If you don’t have free-range chickens, you can create a dust bath for your chickens.
How To Create a Dust Bath for Backyard Chickens
A chicken dust bath truly only needs one ingredient – dry dirt.
If you aren’t wanting to get fancy, simply dig a shallow ditch and fill it with loose, dry dirt.
You can contain a chicken dust bath. You can use a kiddie pool, spare tire with no rim, or large garden pots. You could even use a sandbox!
Creating a container dust bath works especially well if you have clay soil. If you have quite a few chickens, be sure to have more than one container if you’re using something smaller like a spare tire with no rim.
We prefer old tires for our DIY dust baths. We can get them easily by requesting them when we get our tires changed, they’re very easy to move, and they’re the perfect size for one chicken.
Our chickens are also already used to tires for their dust baths.
What about a dust bath with amendments that will help your chickens?
Additional Dust Bath Ingredients
A dust bath can be more than dry dirt. To make your DIY dust bath, consider adding these ingredients.
Fine sand is a great addition to any dust bath. The fine particles can get through feathers and fight things like poultry mites. We use playground sand from our local home construction store.
If you choose to use construction-grade sand, just know that the particles may not be as fine. Construction-grade sand is used to help improve drainage.
To use sand, we use a 2 to 1 ratio of soil to sand. So for every two cups (or scoops, handfuls, the unit of measure doesn’t matter here!) of soil, I use one cup of sand.
Charcoal wood ash is also a great addition to a dust bath. Like charcoal for humans, chickens can sort of detox when exposed to charcoal. As they eat the charcoal in their dust bath, the charcoal can act as a dewormer.
Finally, food-grade diatomaceous earth is another amendment you can add to your DIY dust bath. However, it is a controversial addition.
Diatomaceous earth is crushed shells, which means it can irritate respiratory passages. However, the fine, razor-sharp quality of the DE is what works great against a parasite problem.
The balance comes in the respiratory health of your chickens. Is your flock susceptible to illness? Do they tolerate other allergens well?
I wrote an entire blog post about using diatomaceous earth around chickens. In that blog post, I also go over the pros and cons of DE.
What About Essential Oils?
A common question I get about keeping a dust bath is “What do I put in a dust bath?”
Essential oils are not on my list.
Financially, it doesn’t make sense for my flock.
For our 17 chickens, I would need to invest in quite a few bottles of essential oils to get us through the year. Currently, I only have to purchase playground sand – I have plenty of loose dirt and wood ash available to me! I don’t plan on creating a cost where I don’t need one.
I also don’t have specific skin, feathers, and health issues that can’t be solved with time, patience, or alternative products.
I talk at length about chicken’s health on my blog. It’s a big part of what we do! But our issues center on things like pecking injuries I can use with a medicated spray.
While I love essential oils and use them regularly, I need something I know will cure a pecking injury quickly.
Finally, I’m managing a flock of 17 chickens. Chickens are flighty animals that don’t like to be touched. So to chase a chicken down, I’m causing more stress!
As I consider how to treat my flock, I’m thinking of what will prioritize their health. Individual application of essential oils would have to be a last resort for me because with how active my flock is now, I would cause more stress and irritation trying to catch the chickens and apply the oils than what would be beneficial.
Where Do I Put a Dust Bath?
A dust bath must be somewhere your chickens have constant access to.
If you don’t let your chickens free range, put your dust bath in your chicken run.
If your chickens can free range every day, put the dust bath in a shaded area you know they frequent every day. Since a dust bath is a part of their natural behavior, you know they will find it!
Health Benefits of a Dust Bath
Chickens need a dust bath to stay healthy. And when you build a dust bath for your chickens, you guarantee instant access to the loose materials that can help them stay healthy!
A dust bath can also help keep chickens cool. As the sun heats the soil, the top layer is the only part of the soil that truly gets hot. As your chicken “digs” into the cooler soil, they can use that dirt to lower their body temperature.
This is perfect for hot, sunny days!
I have already mentioned a dust bath’s impact on nasty creepy crawlies. But it’s worth mentioning again! Dust bath access reduces the chances a chicken will be impacted by parasites.
Finally, a dust bath can help chickens remove excess oil.
Are you new to keeping backyard chickens?
I have so many resources for you!
The blog post Raising Chickens for Beginners is a great place to start! In that blog post, you’ll find chicken facts, info on how to raise chicks, and a free printable you can download to get started with your chickens!
If you already have a game plan but need help transporting chickens or preserving eggs, I have blog posts for those topics, too!
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