This Is How A Covered Chicken Dust Bath Keeps Sand Dry

We have baths, they are with water.

Now, your backyard chickens are a bit different.

They like to have a bath but they have a dust bath.
I know…

A little bit different for us and many other animals.

So let’s discuss just how to keep these dust baths dry.

Yes…

A covered chicken dust bath what next.

A Covered Chicken Dust Bath For Chickens

Well…

We have now established that our backyard chickens have dust baths.

They make a hollow in the dirt in their chicken run, hopefully…

And not all over your back garden.

And just take a dust bath.

They mainly have dust baths, I find, when it is sunny.
And why wouldn’t you?

A nice sunny day to bathe away in the dust.

What better for a chicken.

How they feel cleaner while bathing in the dust is beyond me.

But it works for them.

Let’s look at it this way.

The sight of a sopping wet feathered chicken is usually not the prettiest of sights.

And they really do not look happy about it either.

Dust gets into their feathers while getting rid of mites.
So this is how they seem to handle it.

I guess the mites don’t like getting sand or dirt in their eyes.

So decide to take off, or just fall off.

Whichever comes first…

Right!

There is something that falls from the sky and that is rain.

Now a chickens dust bath is not going to be any good for them if it is wet right.
And if you do not have much sun to dry it.

Your chickens are not going to go frolicking in the mud.

What a sight that would be…

And not beneficial to your chickens either.
Instead of getting rid of the mites, they would have mud stuck to their feathers.

And this is the last thing a feathered bird wants.

They would spend a lot of effort preening their feather to get them back in pristine condition.

Feathers are important to a bird, they need them for flight, and to keep them warm.

So muddy feathers are going to hamper all of this.

And as far as taking flight away from predators.

Not really going to happen easily is it?

So your chickens know that their feathers need to be in tip-top condition.

What Can You Use For A Chicken Dust Bath

If chickens are making their own dust bath, it will be on the ground and in the sun.

This means that there is no cover over the top of the dust bath to keep the dust bath from getting wet.

See also How to Make an Automatic Chicken Waterer

And this means that your backyard chickens can not use it all the time if it is wet.

So, if you have made, or are deciding to make a dust bath for your chickens then it is also a good idea to make a covered chicken dust bath for them.

Yes, a covered chicken dust bath is the order of the day.

Even if your chickens have not ordered it from you.

You might as well make one for them to give them a dust bath 24/7.

There is however one downfall to a dust bath for your chickens.

And that is the sun just can not shine down on it all of the time during the day.
If the sun is at its highest, the sun will not fall on the dust bath.

Bearing in mind though…

Your chickens do like a dust bath on nice sunny days.

But if it is a hot day?

Well, this all changes.

They do not want to be baked out in the sun.

They will just not enjoy themselves.

And I have found one thing…

If it is really hot and the dirt or sand is going to be hot as well.

Baked by the sun.

So…
If the dust bath is in the shade your chickens will use it.

And the advantage of a covered

chicken dust bath is that the sand or dirt remains relatively cool.

And this, in turn, will be an advantage to a hot chicken.
Because then the coolness of the sand itself will be a joy to your chickens as they rub themselves in it.

As long as you use a top cover like iron or even wood.
But make sure that you have a waterproof cover over the wood so that the rain does not seep through.

But cast or corrugated iron itself is going to be hot in the full sun of the Summertime.

So you can have a wooden roof and then put a cast iron covering on the top to make it waterproof.

This way the wood will cool down the roof of the covered dust bath.
And not turn your chicken’s dust bath into a sauna!

How To Keep A Chicken Dust Bath Dry

Now that we have discussed most probably the best way to build a covered chicken dust bath roof.

Especially if you might just have these materials just sitting around the house.
It makes it a free roof.

You can use a plastic roofing material that they use for covers in the garden construction if you like.

See also Portable Chicken Run

But the choice is really up to you.

The wood and corrugated roofing method are the cheapest anyway.
Make sure that your dust bath has a roof on it but not sides.

Your chickens need to feel that they are at one with nature here.

If you are building at the side of their chicken coop.

There is no problem with that.
Just do not close the dust bath in.

Let them see around them.

The only thing is…

Just to mention, that at different times of the day the sun will fall on the dust bath.
It is just at the height of the day when the sun is hottest is where the covered dust bath comes in its own.

But the rains!

It is fine when the rain is coming straight down.
The dust bath is going to stay dry.

Yet, the rain does not always come down straight.

It can come at an angle when the winds blow it.

And you can get some water coming into your chicken’s dust bath.

So…

What to do about this.

Well, you might not be able to keep all of the rain out and this in order is going to get your chickens to dust bath a little wet.

One way to minimise the amount of rain getting in on the dust bath is to build a wider roof compared to the dust bath itself.

The broader the roof the less the rain will get in unless the rain is really pelting down at an angle.

Or…

You could build some height sides to your chicken’s dust bath.

I have always used wood to make the sides by hammering them together.
You can use wider pieces of wood to do this.

That way, even if some of the rain does come in.

The sides of the wood will minimise it.

And even if some rain does come in.

It is not the same as the pelting rain coming strained down of the dirt or sand itself.
So the minimum amount of rain is going to dry fairly quickly.

And if it is a hot day anyway, your chickens will enjoy the even cooler sand to bath in.

They will make the decision and if it is not too wet.

They will use it.

The covered chicken dust bath might seem a little extravagant in the chicken run.

But the chickens are worth it.