Chickens need to take dust baths to keep their feathers shiny, clean and bug-free. A kiddie pool or large tub filled with dry dirt or sand works just fine, but why not build your chickens their own raised bed herb garden that can also double as a dust bath?
There are so many herbs that possess all kinds of benefits for chickens (and people!). Many help to repel bugs like mites and lice, flies and mosquitoes, all of which can be a bother to your chickens.
Studies have shown that wild birds will line their nests with different herbs, weeds and edible flowers. The thought is that they somehow realize the health benefits of the essential oils in the plants and understand when their babies rub against them or nibble on them, the benefits are transferred to the newly hatched chicks.
Build your Chickens a Raised Bed Herb Garden Dust Bath
You can do the same for your chickens. In the winter, I have a covered area in my chicken run that I fill with coarse, dry dirt and wood ash from our wood stove, but in the warm months, my chickens get to bathe in their very own herbal dust bath!
After watching my chickens for years when they were out free ranging, I soon realized that they would make a beeline for my herb garden. I paid attention to which herbs they seemed to eat more of (basil, dill, oregano, parsley), which they ignored (not many actually!) and which they chose to wriggle down into the soil near to take their dust baths (lavender, rosemary, thyme).
When we moved to Maine, I decided I had enough of the chickens munching on all the herbs I was growing to use in my cooking, so I started planting a kitchen herb garden on the deck that the chickens can't get at which contained all the herbs I commonly like to cook with: basil, cilantro, dill, mint, rosemary, tarragon and thyme.
Building a Raised Bed
Here's what I did:
First I figured out how large I wanted it to be and cut boards to size. My garden was going to measure about 4x6, so I needed two four foot long boards and two six foot long boards.
Instead of worrying about tilling or removing the grass in the spot where I was building my garden, I just laid down pieces of cardboard I had cut from some shipping boxes we had sitting in the garage. The cardboard would work to kill the grass an suppress weeds.
I built my raised bed using long wood screws and my cordless drill. I made the frame by screwing two screws through the end of each board into the 2x4s, then screwed the boards together into a box shape. Then I set it on top of the cardboard.
Then I added a layer of straw bedding from the coop into the bed on top of the cardboard. The mix of straw, chicken manure and feathers not only added nutrients to the garden soil but provides good drainage and soil structure as it breaks down.
Planting a Raised Bed Herb Garden
The beauty of making a dust bath in an herb garden is that most herbs love dry, sandy, well-drained soil. So the addition of some sand into the herb garden will not only please the herbs, but make a nice dust bathing mixture for the chickens that will really get into their feathers and down to their skin.
In the raised bed I planted all of the herbs that I like to add to my chickens nesting boxes for their calming and restorative properties: bee balm, calendula, catmint, echinacea, mint and yarrow.
I also planted the herbs that I knew were great for repelling parasites like mites and lice: chamomile, lavender, marigold, rosemary, and thyme.
Lastly, I planted a few types of herbs the chickens like to snack on: basil, dill, oregano, parsley and sage.
I started all of the herbs from seed to save some money. Many are perennials, meaning they'll reseed themselves and come up year after year. Of course I had to fence around the garden while the herbs were growing. But once they were mature, I let the chickens in.
Of course some (most!) of the herbs were immediately decimated by the chickens, and by the end of the season, not much is left. Casualties are a given any time you let your chickens into any garden area.