Charcoal Dust Bath

[waywind]

Hi all,

So I've seen alot of posts about using charcoal ashes in dust baths; I don't have facilities for an open fire yet so was just wondering if just buying a bag all natural wood charcoal from my local hardware store and manually crushing that to add is okay? I've read charcoal is safe for then to eat as well.

Or does it have to be charcoal ashes specifically to gain the benefits for coating mites etc.

Thanks
Waywind.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Ashes are soft and very small, which is why they're so good at coating the mites' bodies so that they can't breathe through their trachea. I don't think manually crushed charcoal will be quite that soft and small.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Any ash used needs to be chemical free.

Coals for grills are usually treated with a chemical or several chemicals.

Natural wood ash is what I have added when I can get it. My neighbor has a fireplace and saves his ashes for me.

 

[aart]

Hi all,
So I've seen alot of posts about using charcoal ashes in dust baths; I don't have facilities for an open fire yet so was just wondering if just buying a bag all natural wood charcoal from my local hardware store and manually crushing that to add is okay? I've read charcoal is safe for then to eat as well.
Or does it have to be charcoal ashes specifically to gain the benefits for coating mites etc.
Thanks
Waywind.

It's wood ashes that do the job, fully burned wood not 'charcoal'.
Hardwood ashes are best.
If you have chickens you must have a yard, Right?
You can't burn up a small amount of wood to get some ashes?
You could make a miniature burn barrel out of a metal coffee can, or dig a small pit.

 

[Quackter]

Guessing the lye has as much to do with it as anything, I agree, I don't think the charcoal would work very well.

Side note, not advocating it: It used to be a common practice to feed charcoal and even coal to hogs as a wormer, Has anyone ever tried this with chickens? I've seen them turn old fire pits, I'm sure they eat some free ranging.

 

[aart]

Side note, not advocating it: It used to be a common practice to feed charcoal and even coal to hogs as a wormer, Has anyone ever tried this with chickens? I've seen them turn old fire pits, I'm sure they eat some free ranging.

Yep.
Have seen them eat the not quite fully burned bits from ash making, and the resultant black poops.
Have read about feeding charcoal to a bird that ate a toxic material.
Not sure it would be an effective wormer...
...sounds like a FarmersTale/WivesTale to me.

 

[Quackter]

Yep.
Have seen them eat the not quite fully burned bits from ash making, and the resultant black poops.
Have read about feeding charcoal to a bird that ate a toxic material.
Not sure it would be an effective wormer...
...sounds like a FarmersTale/WivesTale to me.

It definitely removes the toxins, activated carbon, (porous charcoal) is what a person gets at the emergency room in a lot of poison cases. It's also really the thing showed effective on Brown Recluse bites.

https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/cgi...psredir=1&article=1007&context=extension_circ

Page 10

 

[waywind]

Okay thanks for all the replies. I will try and find some ashes instead

 

[FlyWheel]

It definitely removes the toxins, activated carbon, (porous charcoal) is what a person gets at the emergency room in a lot of poison cases.<Snip!>

That's because it makes the person throw up. Whether it neutralizes any poisons I don't know.

 

[Quackter]

Activated carbon a

That's because it makes the person throw up. Whether it neutralizes any poisons I don't know.

It absorbs many, a little BB of the activated carbon (charcoal) has millions of pores. They use it on ODs too, kind of like dropping a thousand little sponges that soak up pretty much everything but water. Then which ever direction they are expelled they carry it.