Chickens love dirt and they don’t care who knows it.
It’s called a dust bath, and for your chickens, it’s the ultimate luxury. It also serves another purpose by keeping your chickens mite-free. There goes nature again. Fixing everything naturally.
Problem is, chickens create dust bath locations in places that cause more problems for you, the chicken owner. They dig holes for dust baths in the coop, or the run, or if you have really horrible chickens, right next to your back gate so new people who visit your farm get a nice slip n’ trip.
Chickens. Scheming murderous plots against humans since, well…ever.
Repurposing old tires into chicken baths
The process is fairly simple and great for kids!
Step 1) Get your old tires (any tire shop will give them away for free) and place something under them to catch the overspray from the spray paint.
Step 2) Start a’ spraying. One can of spray per tire should do it.
Step 3) Fill ’em with dirt and/or sand. Also, it’s super important that you place a sign next to it. Otherwise, how would they know what they are?
I’m new to back yard chickens, what is DE?
Hi Debbye-
DE is diatomaceous earth. It’s usually used a dewormer. Thanks -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
So I’ve painted my tire and ready to fill with dirt. Something just occurred to me. We get a lot of rain and snow. Should I put them under cover so they don’t turn in to muddy bathtubs??
Hi Crystal-
So exciting your tire chicken baths are “up and running”! You should post a pic of them sometime! As for your question, you can definitely put up some sort of cover to keep them dry. Keeping the dirt/dust dry makes them more useful for the chickens. You could even place them on the south side of a shed to help with snow. Great job thinking ahead and doing some good hard work for your chickens. Thanks for watching and posting! -Bobbi
How long do you let the tires dry? And how much DE do you add to a tire full of dirt/sand?
About an hour till the paint is dry. I add about a quart to each tire.
Help! I’ve lost 4 chickens his month. They are 4.5 months old and should be laying any day but instead are just deciding to die. 🙁 They have high quality feed & plenty of water, I am not sure the problem but someone suggested I get a “rooster booster” or chicken vitamin & electrolytes blend. Also, I’m not sure if it could possibly be coccidia because we lost three in one week, although they have no symptoms. We want to keep our chickens organic, any natural treatments or things I could do to keep them healthy/get them back to being healthy?!?! Oregano oil in the waterer? Can I let them eat garlic cloves? Would that even help? Any advice is much appreciated 🙂
Hi Emily,
Wow, chickens are pretty hearty animals so my best guess would be weather-related (really hot temps) or virus related (read up on Marek’s disease). You can let them eat garlic cloves, that would definitely boost immunity.
Are they getting grit? I had a friend whose chickens got sick because they didn’t have grit to help grind their food. They had peat moss and dirt, but no gravel or anything. They started fattening up when she got them grit and oyster shells. No idea if this is a problem in your area, but not everyone knows they need grit.
Can’t wait to try this. I know you can add cinnamon to sandbox and keep out the fire ants. Maybe it will work for the chickens as well.
What a GREAT idea!
Hi there,
These are a great idea!!
What kind of paint did you use on the tyres?
Thanks ☺
I used an outdoor spray paint:)
If I put the tire outside, do I need to put something under the tire so the rain won’t wash I away?
Hi Lois, that might be a good idea:) We don’t have a lot of rain here in Arizona, so I didn’t even consider it. Though once you fill the tires with dirt they are pretty heavy!
Do t forget to mention adding some de to the dirt or sand, this will help get rid of any bugs the chickens might have!
I love this idea, but do you have to use special non-toxic paint?
I didn’t, because chickens won’t peck at the tires:)
Ok thanks – will get the kids onto it this weekend!
Would these baths need to be out of the weather or just out in the yard?
Hi Sharon,
We have these out in the yard:)
I use peat moss and wood ash and sand. They go crazy when I mix up a new batch for them . I love that it would be contained Instead of scattered all over the run. Can’t wait to try this!!!!
I’m weird about chemicals…so here’s my question; I’ve heard that houses built with tires as the base for walls create problems – would this do the same for my chickens.
Hi Susan,
I’m not sure. My chickens don’t live in it constantly and we think it’s fine. I would probably worry more if the tires were inside the coop with low ventilation:)
I really like this idea. We just happen to have a few tires too. Our dust bath ingredients usually include dirt, diatomaceous earth, and wood ash. We have A LOT of deer here. This combo helps manage the fleas and ticks they bring onto or property.
Mix some of the ashes from your wood stove with the dirt. It’s helps keep mites down.
I would love to try this but I’m afraid they would attract fire ants? Any suggestions?
I Carol,
It’s possible they might, we don’t have that problem here, but I do know my chickens and geese would eat up the ants if that were the case!
Hello Carole- We did something similar in south Texas and as long as we moved the tires every month we haven’t had issues with fire ants moving in. We also put some on pavers stones then filled and those we haven’t moved in at least 7 months and still no fire ants.
Hey Carole, fireant s really hate mint. I live in nw Florida, not too far from where the original invasion of these critters began, so we have a very serious problem with them here. I discovered completely by happenstance that mint drives them away. It may take a couple of weeks, but a small sprig poked right in the middle of a fireant hill will usually run them off. Hope this helps.
Debbie… (0;
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Want to try this in the spring when I restock my chickens. Lost my pretty babies due to a fox and several opossums. Better protection for them is in the works. I love the colors. Right now we are having floods so they would have mud baths. LOLOLOL