Eating dustbath materials

[Ext 918]

My girls treat everything I put in their dust bath container like food. None of them show any ill effects. They are free fed on 20% chick feed. Treats are dandelion weeds, mustard greens, and the random grasshopper. They are in a 10x19 run.

I started with just yard dirt and wasn't too concerned when they kicked around and picked out stuff. Within 2 weeks it was almost empty. I switched to yard dirt, sand and a bit of volcanic ash. Same result...eaten. Tonight I put all volcanic ash...we will see what happens.

They have areas of dirt in the run and I will sprinkle chick grit occasionally. If I give them a dish of grit they eat it all immediately.

Has anyone else encountered this behavior and should I be concerned?

 

[Perris]

Birds obtain minerals from 'dirt'. If they are eating a lot of it, you might want to look at the mineral content and values of the feed you are supplying them; it's not just protein that matters. Plus minerals in the feed may be in a form that is not easy for your birds to digest.

In general, the more diverse foods they eat, the less likelihood there is of them suffering any sort of deficiency. Wild birds manage their diets just fine without humans.

 

[Ext 918]

Birds obtain minerals from 'dirt'. If they are eating a lot of it, you might want to look at the mineral content and values of the feed you are supplying them; it's not just protein that matters. Plus minerals in the feed may be in a form that is not easy for your birds to digest.

In general, the more diverse foods they eat, the less likelihood there is of them suffering any sort of deficiency. Wild birds manage their diets just fine without humans.

Thank you for the info. They have been on Dumor Chick Starter. Tomorrow they will be switched over to King - Freedom chick feed. With the temperature increasing, I'll be giving them more chilled veggies and greens ..so hopefully they'll get what they need.

 

[Perris]

You are welcome. Going forward, giving them some meat/ fish/ insects/ dairy would be better than more plants (most bagged feed is just plant material and synthetic vitamins and minerals). Chickens are omnivores and don't do well on vegan diets.

 

[Ext 918]

You are welcome. Going forward, giving them some meat/ fish/ insects/ dairy would be better than more plants (most bagged feed is just plant material and synthetic vitamins and minerals). Chickens are omnivores and don't do well on vegan diets.

I have offered them the dried meal worms and larvae. They refuse to eat them. They love live insects. Perhaps I can find a store that sells live insects for them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Mine casually pick at their peat moss (their dust bathing substrate), their coop bedding, the dirt in the run. As long as they're not gorging themselves on non-food I don't consider it an issue.

 

[Ext 918]

Mine casually pick at their peat moss (their dust bathing substrate), their coop bedding, the dirt in the run. As long as they're not gorging themselves on non-food I don't consider it an issue.

Hard to tell if one or more is gorging. They all love to hang out in the container. No one seems negativity impacted. It's just an odd behavior to me. They have fresh grass patches and areas of dirt in the run.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hard to tell if one or more is gorging. They all love to hang out in the container. No one seems negativity impacted. It's just an odd behavior to me. They have fresh grass patches and areas of dirt in the run.

If they're all active and healthy I wouldn't worry about it. Dust bath substrate always vanishes quickly even if they're not picking at it, as they'll get up with it caked in their feathers and then shake it off all over the place, effectively emptying the spot of whatever material was in it.

 

[Perris]

I have offered them the dried meal worms and larvae. They refuse to eat them. They love live insects. Perhaps I can find a store that sells live insects for them.

It is easy to have a mealworm farm if you can source the original live worms, and costs next to nothing (one sack of bran per 6 months here, about £20 per annum).

My adventure down that track is told here
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/first-attempt-at-mealworm-farming.1350136/
and it's still thriving, and providing a constant supply of delicious and nutritious mealworms for my flock.

 

[BugStalker]

I add sand to my dust bath, and they like the larger pieces as grit. It's not the best grit. I have some granite, as well, but they seem to like the sand. The dirt also has grit and occasionally bugs. They often dig with their beaks, without eating, though it sometimes can be hard to tell.

Wood ash is one thing I add that they don't tend to eat directly, but they get some in what they do eat, I'm sure. It's better than the chemicals I used to use for external parasites.

These get redistributed over everything much more than eaten.

I also have supervised free ranging and homegrown live meal worms and bsfl. They will eat dried, but much prefer live.

I had a sick bird gorge on sand before, but she recovered. She had a digestive issue and probably wasn't absorbing one or more nutrients well at the time.