News in Brief Animals

Sandboxes keep chicken parasites at bay

Dust an alternative to pesticides for cage-free and organic poultry

hen taking a dust bath

DUSTUP  Hens bathe in a dust-filled box. Sand and dust from fossilized algae keep mite populations manageable on the birds. 

Brad Mullens

By Amy McDermott

- More than 2 years ago

For chickens, a dip in the sandbox is good hygiene.  

Cage-free flocks that “bathe” by flapping around in diatomaceous earth (a fine dust of fossilized algae) and sand prevent serious mite infections, researchers report September 14 in the Journal of Economic Entomology.