Today, I discovered that my babies are wanting to take dust baths.
I use old disposable microwavable teriyaki rice bowls filled with sand to help elevate the water and feeder to keep the chicks from walking on the rims and keep the chicks from kicking the shavings into them. This also helps to keep them from pulling all their food out onto the floor of the brooder. As the chicks get larger, we add more height by placing these sand filled bowls onto other things, like blocks of wood and other stable objects.
When it is time to clean and refill their water/food supply, I take the feeder and water out of the "base bowls." When I do this, the chicks take that opportunity to jump into the "sand bowls" to peck at the sand and they probably eat some of it too, like they would be doing outside. I'm usually not gone for more than five to ten minutes. Otherwise, they really don't have access to that sand, except during that short period each day.
Today, when I returned with the water, one of the chicks was laying on her back in the little bowl of sand, flapping her wings and trying hard to take a dust bath in that little pile of sand! It was sooo cute. But mind you, that sand is so totally wrong for that particular purpose. We use playground sand as "weight" for the little bowls to keep the chicks feeder and water in place. That type of sand is heavy and clean BUT not a good idea for chicks to play in it. That really fine sand has too much silica in it for chicks (or chickens, for that matter.)
So, to placate the chicks' desire to roll in the sand, I put a little tray with high sides on it into the brooder. I filled the tray half way up with clean, all purpose river sand. The grains of sand are larger than playground sand, with less dust and silica floating around whenever they decide to take a roll in it.
Silly Chicks. I didn't realize that they want to take dust baths at this young age!
