The Girls first day outside!

[KappyFlock]

For dirt baths I bought a couple of these and fill them with dirt from my property. I provide these from day 1 and the immediate exposure to the bacteria in the dirt helps to build up their immunity. The chicks absolutely love to play in the dirt and it's like a little playground for them.
View attachment 3130830

I know this is an old thread, but I have chicks for the first time and I'm trying to figure out if I should put something like this in our brooder. I'm using the coop as a brooder and so far it has only pine shavings in it. The floor underneath is vinyl.

I've seen a couple of chicks trying to dust bathe by flopping around on a section of the vinyl scraped clean of shavings. Not a very successful dust bath. haha So I'm wondering if I should help them out by putting a pan of dirt from our yard in the coop.

The run is not accessible to them yet, as we still have to predator-proof it.

The chicks are probably nearing two weeks old.

What do you think?

 

[azygous]

Give them some dirt to play in. They'll reward you with some pretty hilarious activity.

 

[KappyFlock]

Give them some dirt to play in. They'll reward you with some pretty hilarious activity.

Thank you for your reply! They seem to be looking for more things to do, so I'm sure they'd enjoy it.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I know this is an old thread, but I have chicks for the first time and I'm trying to figure out if I should put something like this in our brooder. I'm using the coop as a brooder and so far it has only pine shavings in it. The floor underneath is vinyl.

I've seen a couple of chicks trying to dust bathe by flopping around on a section of the vinyl scraped clean of shavings. Not a very successful dust bath. haha So I'm wondering if I should help them out by putting a pan of dirt from our yard in the coop.

The run is not accessible to them yet, as we still have to predator-proof it.

The chicks are probably nearing two weeks old.

What do you think?

I would definitely recommend adding some dirt if you can. They play in a pan of dirt like a kid sandbox

 

[knoturavggrl]

I did put a dust bath into the brooder. I used a under the bed storage container and used dirt from their soon to be coop floor and a bit of coffee ground litter I had leftover to help absorb any dampness. They absolutely love it and it seems to make them so happy. My brooder is a tent so they can fling it and fling it they do! I say that as warning because it would make quite a mess if my brooder was opened.