want to make my hens a sandpit!! any ideas?

[angelat]

hi all

want to make my hens a sandpit, do you think that they would go in it. would a kiddies one be any good do you think?? anyone else had this idea??

[lynda66]

i've got a castle shaped purple and yellow sandpit, that i got off freecycle, i've also got a bright green baby bath for the ducks, which could also be used for sand, they will add a nice bit of colour

[MaureenHall]

Yes, been there, done that, chooks ignored it!! They preferred to make their own dust baths.

[Birdie Wife]

I made one out of a fish box I found on the beach. But then, I'm a Highland teuchter...

[Flummery]

I made one out of a fish box I found on the beach. But then, I'm a Highland teuchter...

I've got 4 fish boxes in my garden - and I'm only a Lancastrian! How can you leave them there when they are in good nick?

[Birdie Wife]

My thoughts precisely!

[Bephlam]

My girls made their first dust bath last week - it really was one of the funniest things I've ever seen!!

[Snadger]

My sand pit is a dogs bed! They just scratch the sand out of it and eat it anyway.........but it's supposed to do em good!

[di]

Having recently started to let the chooks total freedom of the lottie when we're there(O.K~fencing off th'onions),they make a beeline to old bonfires & absolutely seem to adore rolling around in the ash.So we've dug a hole in an undercover part of their run & filled with ash~will top up as needed.Not sure if ash is as beneficial as sand but ours really do love it.

[Lemon]

I would agree about not bothering about the sand-pit. We gave ours a washing up bowl of earth - they eat it, they spill it. We advanced to an underbed box of sand. They ignore it.

Their favourite is to kick the bark chips off the borders onto the lawn and kick earth everywhere. Or to make their own dustbath in the empty veg bed.

Good luck!

[frias]

My OH is at this moment tending the fire in the pitch dark. He says he's only burning some wood so the girls can have some ash as they love it so much. We mix ash, play sand and earth for the dust bath.

[Snadger]

My OH is at this moment tending the fire in the pitch dark. He says he's only burning some wood so the girls can have some ash as they love it so much. We mix ash, play sand and earth for the dust bath.

Well wood ash is sometimes added to the land where it has an Alkaline effect similar to lime but not as powerful. Lime is calcium so the wood ash should be good for them..........probably!

[Sunbeam]

Mine love our son's sandpit - infact between them & Kiran they managed to get through two large bags of sand since the summer! How about emptying a bag onto the ground so they can have a kick about in it - they love grass clippings too! They don't actually dustbathe in the sand - they eat it for grit, ours dustbath in the desert left by the large conifers we have at the front of the garden

[Hilary B]

Well wood ash is sometimes added to the land where it has an Alkaline effect similar to lime but not as powerful. Lime is calcium so the wood ash should be good for them..........probably!

Dustbathing in ash MAY help a bit with any parasite problem. Odds are mites/fleas etc won't like it much. Lime is calcium, ash is more complicated, and not much calcium, but it still may contain useful elements for chicken health.