How to Make a Dust Bath for Your Chickens

Chickens enjoy taking a dust bath to clean their feathers and help with mites and other parasites. Making a dust bath for your chickens is an easy project and can often be made with items on hand or for very little expense.

If your chicken run is in an area that is free of grass and rocks, your chickens may make their own dust bath by digging a shallow hole and fluffing around in the dirt or soil. If your chicken run is not suitable for them to make their own dust bath, it's easy enough to provide one for them.

Make a Chicken Dust Bath From a Kiddie Pool

If you have a child's old wading pool that has a leak or has been outgrown, repurpose it to use for a dust bath for your poultry. If you want to be able to move the dust bath, a kiddie pool is a great choice.

Make a Chicken Dust Bath From an Old Tire

An old tire can be recycled as a container for your chickens' dust bath. The sides are high enough to hold several inches of sand and you'll be keeping one more rubber tire out of the landfill. A larger truck tire will allow room for community bathing and most can be found free or for a small fee at your local automotive or tire shop, local junk yard or transfer station.

Make a Chicken Dust Bath From Scrap Wood

If you have scrap wood on hand, turn it into a sandbox for your chickens. Simply nail or screw pieces of 2x4, 2x6, or landscaping timbers into a square or rectangle large enough to accommodate several chickens. A sandbox made out of wood scraps can be left bottomless, or you may place the frame on top of a piece of treated plywood if you want a more portable dust bath.

Make a Chicken Dust Bath From Concrete Blocks or Rocks

If you have concrete blocks left from a construction project, or extra rocks, bricks or paving stones from DIY landscaping or gardening, make good use of them as a dust bath for your chickens. One layer of concrete blocks is high enough to make a dust bath, and bricks or rocks of various sizes can be stacked to a suitable height.

Whatever material you choose to make your chickens' dust bath from, be sure to have something to cover it when raining, and to keep cats from using it as a litter box if it's in an area accessible to them. A scrap sheet of plywood, vinyl or an old tarp should suffice.

Sources:
Personal experience
BackYardChickens.com