Chickens Every Day
Dedicated to helping backyard chicken owners keep the happiest and healthiest flocks we can. Send your kind comments to: GaryVallery@yahoo.com
Chickens Every Day
Crafting the Perfect Dust Bath & The Importance of Heritage Livestock Conservation
Experience the art and science of chicken care as Gary Vallery from CENLA Backyard Chickens reveals how to craft the ultimate dust bath for your flock. Ever wonder how chickens keep parasites at bay while frolicking in the dirt? Discover how sifted dirt, wood ash, and diatomaceous earth can transform your chickens' grooming routine into a year-round wellness practice, ensuring they remain vibrant and parasite-free, even in tricky climates. Whether you're just beginning your chicken-keeping journey or you're a seasoned pro, these practical tips will enrich your backyard experience.
Preserving the past for a sustainable future, we shift gears to spotlight the formidable work of the Livestock Conservancy. Founded in 1977, this organization is a guardian of America's heritage livestock breeds, from the resilient Carolina Marsh Tacky horse to the American rabbit. Listen as we unravel the tapestry of genetic diversity that these breeds contribute to our ecosystems and food security. With a keen eye on adaptation and sustainability, we discuss the critical importance of these breeds in a world leaning towards fast-growing hybrids. Learn why safeguarding these genetic treasures is vital for agriculture's future and how you can play a part in this mission.
Are we ready, pawpaw? Hello friends and welcome to Chicken. Every Day, a podcast for you, the backyard chicken enthusiast, and mine. Your host is my Pawpaw, gary, Gary Valerie of Senla Backyard Chickens. Here we have fun while sharing ideas and learning how to care for our foul-feathered friends. Check out our videos at Senla that's C-E-n-l-a backyard chickens on youtube, tiktok and facebook. So, without further ado, let's start today's show. How was that?
Speaker 2:hey guys, a quick interruption here. This podcast was actually pulled off of a video that I did on youtube and tiktok, but I thought it was relevant relevant enough that you guys could get some good out of it. You hear me talking about a scoop of this or a scoop of that. The amount that you put in for this dust bath that you're getting ready to listen to is not all that extremely important. However, if you want to take a look at the video on YouTube or TikTok and watch me as I put these in and get an idea of what I do, please feel free to. But don't think that this is a formula that has to be adhered to strictly when it just comes to the amount. Obviously, just use your good common sense for that. So let's continue.
Speaker 2:You know, when I was a boy growing up in Dry Creek, our chickens had 20 acres plus to free range on. Inevitablyably, they seemed to like the yard more than they liked anything and from that to much to my mother's chagrin and dismay, they liked the front porch as well, and of course, we all know what chickens like to do when they're on your front porch, but one of the things they would do in our yard is. They would dig holes and they would wallow in these holes for just all all the time, and I really never knew what was going on, as a boy Probably was a young teenager when somebody finally said, yeah, this is how our chickens take a bath every day and this bath helps clean them, keeps them safe and healthy. Well, today we call this a dust bath, and this is very important for the bird's health, their overall well-being, and it even relieves stress, and dust baths are made to kill these parasites, lice and mice and different things that get on your birds. This is something that is needed year-round for them. If you live in a northern climate, this is coming on winter. This time of the year you may have snow on the ground and your birds can't dustbath out there. Over here in Louisiana, winter is usually our wet time of the year, so it's hard to make a dust bath whenever it's wet Dust uh, you know we need dust to do that. So I keep a dust bath year-round inside my chicken run and it actually goes under my chicken coop, which is a couple of feet off the ground, and it stays 100% dry. Doing that, the birds always have access to dust bath. This is something you need to do for them year-round, and if you're a seasoned chicken keeper, you know this. But if you're just getting into chickens, this is something you may want to consider. What we can do nowadays is we can create our own dust bath with the ingredients that we want for the birds to make it even more effective for them, to make what we do for them last longer, make it more healthy for them, more able to kill insects and bugs and mites and lice and things like that, and even smell better for the chickens. So I'm going to give you a list of ingredients and the way that I like to do a dust bath. So stay tuned, I'll get going.
Speaker 2:Obviously, to create a dust bath, ingredient number one is always going to be dirt. If you don't have access to dirt, don't have a place to go get it. You can go to the hardware store or the home store, pick up dirt, what you want to make sure of. So many bags of soil that you get, even if they say top soil are going to have a lot of sticks in them. Sticks are not good. Your birds are not going to dust bathe in something that they always get poked in with small twigs and sticks. So if you have to get that stuff, make sure that you sift through it. I created my own sift right here. This is just a screen. This is quarter inch hardware cloth and I attached a wood frame to it to make it good, nice and strong. This way that I can sift through my dirt. Make sure that I don't have sticks and what have you in it? The next ingredient is wood ash, and this is ashes out of our fireplace. We burn firewood, so if you don't have access to that maybe you have a neighbor that does they can give you some ashes out of the fireplace. The last thing you can possibly do is actually buy some good Kingsford, that is all natural charcoal, and you can burn that charcoal down into a pile and have your own ash. Just be forewarned if you use barbecue charcoal, your chickens are come out want to come out already smelling like barbecue chicken, so kind of be aware that you're going to have this.
Speaker 2:And then we use diatomaceous earth and there's a lot of things that people worry about with diatomaceous earth. And there's a lot of things that people worry about with diatomaceous earth, but it's really not as scary as you think. Diatomaceous earth is the fossilized remain of tiny little aquatic organisms called diatoms, and they lived and died and reproduced over eons of time, and their skeletal remains are known as silica. And silica is one of the most common minerals that we have here on this planet. They make up 26% of the Earth's crust by weight. We have two different types of diatomaceous earth that we use food grade and non-food grade. They both contain the crystalline silica, which is not the really good kind that you want, but small amounts of it. But the level of filtration is what makes the difference. And the food-grade diatomaceous earth is exactly that. It's food-grade and you can actually use it in cattle feed and animal feeds and it's a lot healthier all around. So that's what we want to use for our birds as well. Also, we put in there some sand. I like to use fine sand, so I will go to the hardware store, to a Lowell's Home Depot someplace like that, and just pick up a big 50 pound sack of the play sand, and that 50 pound bag will last me most of the year whenever I use it. I mean it really, really goes a long way. So now we're going to put all this stuff together for y'all and we're just going to make us a nice dust bath for our chickens. We have the dirt in right here.
Speaker 2:My next is going to be the wood ash that I put in. Now I don't have specific amounts that I use. Okay, you can just look at it and see what looks good when you mix it up. If you want more, you want less. Use that I don't have. You know, I'm going to use so many scoops of this or so many scoops of that, but I also want to use my screen on wood ash, because not all the bark is going to cook down whenever you have it.
Speaker 2:So I put that on here and you can look and see. And look, right here, this is the bark that's left over. I don't want that. It's off to be in there with my birds and they're not going to like it either. We'll sift that. That's a couple of scoops right there. Look at that, that big old piece right there. Birds are not gonna like this, so we get to sift all that good stuff out. So now I'm not gonna need this anymore. Next I'm gonna add the sand, and again I'm just kinda eyeballing how much I think I want you know, and whenever I stir it up if it doesn't seem like it's sandy enough, I'll put more sand. If it doesn't seem like it's got enough ash in it, I'm going to put more ash. So I mean, this is all subject to what you think looks good and you'll learn over time. Then we get to the food grade dioptomaceous earth.
Speaker 2:I'm going to put that in there and again, that's about a pretty decent scoop that I have. Then. Now we get to start mixing all this stuff up. My dirt is going to turn from a real hard, dark, dark brown to almost a gray color, and that's kind of what I look for. I look for something that's easy for the birds to sift through and if I like it, generally they're going to like it as well. And you can see all of my ingredients are starting to come into play here and I keep this for them year round.
Speaker 2:Now, this much right here is probably going to last half a week. You know it lasts pretty good. I like a big container to put it in, because the smaller the container, the easier it is for them to kick it out, because they're going to scratch in here, they're going to dig themselves a little hole in here. They're going to shake, rattle and throw, use their feathers, you know, and dust is going to fly, and dust needs to fly because it's going to get all up inside their feathers and their skin. It's going to help keep the oil out, help keep all those insects down and look at here starting to get a lovely dust bath just with that little bit of work.
Speaker 2:Right there there's a little chunk. You want to keep it ground up and of course, like so many of us do, I spoil my birds as well. I put some of this right in here and this is a botanical bath, is what they call it. It's got some essential oils, it's got peppermint in it, it's got some dioptomaceous earth in it as well. It's got other you know essential oils and stuff and it's, you know, just kind of fancy. I'll put a couple of scoops of this in. It helps them smell nice and you can just kind of sprinkle that on top right there and just kind of leave it like that Next step that you want to do, go out and put it in the pen. And look, folks, I'm telling you it's a lot easier, as I'm sure you know, to prevent illness, to prevent stress, to prevent lice and things, than it is to have to deal with these things. So a dust bath goes a very long way in helping to prevent that. It makes the chickens happy on top of everything else, and it's not expensive and it's good for them.
Speaker 2:Right now I'd like to talk about something that's very important to me and also to you guys as well, especially if you know about them, and it's an organization known as the Livestock Conservancy. This was formerly known as the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, the ALBC. Prior to that it was called the American Minor Breeds Conservancy. This is a nonprofit organization and they're focused on preserving and promoting rare breeds, also known as heritage breeds and that's a term that you'll hear a lot from a lot of poultry people, and it's both poultry and livestock. You know other animals as well cattle. Founded in 1977 through the efforts of livestock breeding enthusiasts concerned about the disappearance of many of the United States heritage livestock breeds, the Livestock Conservancy was the pioneer livestock preservation organization in the United States and remains a leading organization in that field. It has initiated programs that have saved multiple breeds from extinction and works closely with similar organizations in other countries, including Rare Breeds of Canada. With 3,000 members, a staff of 11, and 19 board of director members, the organization has an operating budget of just over a million dollars.
Speaker 2:The Livestock Conservancy maintains a conservation priority list that divides endangered species or breeds rather of horses, asses, sheep, goats, cattle, rabbits, pigs and poultry into five categories based on population numbers and historical interest. The organization has published many books and works on breed registries and other groups of several aspects of breed preservation, including genetic testing, historical documents, animal rescue and marketing. Preservation of genetic material is of special interest to the Conservancy, and for a period of time it maintained a gene bank that was later transferred to the United States Department of Agriculture. It has also developed and published several heritage definitions, including parameters for heritage breeds of cattle and poultry. In large part due to the efforts of the organization, heritage turkey, populations have increased more than tenfold in a little over a decade, and several breeds that once stood on the brink of extension now maintain healthy populations. The organization also sustains programs that deal with preserving and promoting endangered cattle and pig breeds, as well as breed-specific programs relating to many of its livestock categories. Breeds that the Livestock Conservancy has assisted in saving include Carolina Marsh, track Horse, the Rodale or Randall R-A-N-D-A-L-L cattle, red water hogs and the American rabbit, just to name a few.
Speaker 2:Livestock Conservancy has a mission, and that mission is to protect America's endangered livestock and poultry breeds from extinction. And if you ask yourself, well, why do we really want to worry about that? Many of America's once common farm animals face extinction if we do not take action, and take it now. Rare farm animals represent an irreplaceable piece of Earth's biodiversity and offer incredible variety that may be needed for future farms. Robust health, mothering instincts, foraging and the ability to thrive in a changing climate. These farm animals are a vital part of ensuring food security for our planet, both now and in the future.
Speaker 2:And, guys, if you don't know, let's just say for a minute, you go down to the grocery store and you buy a package of chicken and there are just a couple of breeds out there a Cornish Cross is one of them that are meat breeds and we've bred these chickens to grow extremely fast, to get fat, to have large breasts, to be very, very meaty, and we've bred all of the characteristics out of them, or many, many of the characteristics out of them, or many, many of the characteristics out of them that make them chicken. These guys cannot live two or three years because their bones cannot support the weight. They get diseased. They are not built and they're not genetically engineered to do that. We have genetically changed these animals over time to satisfy our needs and meet the demands of a growing public, and that is to grow out quick and to get butchered and and be consumed by the American consumer. The same thing with eggs. Leghorns are a good example. These chickens were bred to be the highest producer of eggs that we could get, and leghorns do not have all of the characteristics that their foreparents once had foraging capability, the ability to be broody and broody is when a hen wants to be a mama and sit on a clutch of eggs. Leghorns don't do that. That has been bred out of them over time. So this is just one of the reasons, or couple of the reasons, that we really need to save these heritage breed chickens, because this is what they do. These are the genetic diversity that was used to create these other ones in the first place, and if we lose these chickens, then we're going to lose something that's extremely important to us.
Speaker 2:The livestock conservancy has a fairly long history, but it's not as long as what we would think it was. They were started, I think, in 1977. They had some founding directors that started all of this and they've been working ever since then to make sure that we have what we need as far as the diversity goes. They're a nonprofit membership organization and their mission is to protect endangered livestock and poultry breeds from extinction. And if you ask yourself why conservation matters, heritage breeds of livestock protect our food system now and in the future. By securing genetic diversity what we were just talking about we enable healthy agricultural development while preserving heritage, history and culture. These animals represent an irreplaceable piece of earth's biodiversity that, once lost, is always lost. It will be gone forever.
Speaker 2:Heritage Breeds Conservation retains animals well suited for sustainable grass-based systems, which gives some small farms a competitive edge and also broadens the market with diverse fiber and flavor foods. Their unique genetic traits offer an incredible variety that may be needed for future farms, including the robust health, mothering instincts again, the brooding that we talked about, foraging and the ability to thrive in a changing climate. If you ask yourself, you know, many of you guys know. But what are heritage breeds? These are traditional livestock breeds that were raised by our forefathers. These are the breeds of a bygone era, before industrial agriculture became a mainstream practice. These breeds were carefully selected and bred over time to develop traits that made them well adapted to the local environment. They thrived under farming practices and cultural conditions that are very different from those found in modern agriculture.
Speaker 2:Traditional, historic breeds retain essential attributes for survival and self-sufficiency fertility, foraging ability, longevity, maternal instinct, ability to mate naturally and resistance to diseases and parasites. Heritage animals once roamed the pastures of America's pastoral landscape, but today these breeds are in danger of extinction. Modern agriculture has changed, causing many of these breeds to fall out of favor, and it's unfortunate because if you can raise a chicken that is market ready in seven weeks or you can raise a chicken that is market ready in 24 weeks, which one is going to give you the most profit? So that's what farmers do. You can't fault them for that. It's that competitive edge that is needed and that's the only way that the farmer himself can survive himself can survive.
Speaker 2:Heritage breeds store a wealth of genetic resources that are important to our future and the future of our agricultural food system. So if you're interested in helping these organizations and conserve these breeds, you know the Livestock Conservancy has a packet called Getting Started with Heritage Breeds in their website and it can really help you to pay attention, help you to learn more about them. Heritage is largely a term of art and not science, but the Livestock Conservancy is working to define heritage for various species in order to codify the term in the marketplace. Thus far, the Conservancy has defined heritage for chickens, turkeys, cattle and swine. If you look up for the definition of a heritage chicken, they have to be part of the American diet. Well, they have been part of the American diet since the arrival of the Spanish explorers, and that was some several hundred years ago. Since that time, different breeds have been developed to provide meat, eggs and pleasure.
Speaker 2:The American Poultry Association began defining breeds in 1873 and publishing the definitions of the standard of perfection. These standard breeds were well adapted to outdoor production in various climatic reasons. They were hardy, long-lived, reproductively vital birds that provided important sources of protein to the growing population of the country. Into the mid-20th century, with the industrialization of chickens, many breeds were sidelined in preference for few, rapidly growing hybrids. The Livestock Conservancy now lists over three dozen breeds of chickens in danger of extinction. List over three dozen breeds of chickens in danger of extinction. Extinction of a breed would mean the irrevocable loss of the genetic resources and options it embodies. Therefore, to draw attention to these endangered breeds is to support their long-term conservation, to support efforts to recover these breeds to historic levels of productivity and to reintroduce these culinary and cultural treasures to the marketplace. The Livestock Conservancy is defining heritage chickens.
Speaker 2:Chickens must meet all of the following criteria, which I'm going to go over now. A heritage chicken must adhere to the following APA standard breed Heritage chickens must be from parent and grandparent stock of breeds recognized by the American Poultry Association prior to the mid-20th century, whose genetic line can be traced back multiple generations and with traits that meet the APA standard of perfection. Guides for the breed. Heritage chicken must be provided and sired by an APA standard breed. Heritage eggs must be laid by an APA standard breed. Naturally mating Heritage chickens must be reproduced and genetically maintained through natural mating. Chickens marketed as heritage must be the result of naturally mated pairs of both grandparent and parent stock.
Speaker 2:Long productive outdoor lifespan Heritage chickens must have the genetic ability to live a long, vigorous life and thrive in the rigorous of pasture-based outdoor population systems. Breeding hens should be productive for five to seven years and roosters three to five years. Slow growth rate Heritage chicken must have a moderate to slow growth rate, reaching appropriate market weight for the breed in no less than 16 weeks. This gives the chicken time to develop strong skeletal structure and healthy organs prior to building muscle mass. Chickens marketed as heritage must include the variety and breed name for that label.
Speaker 2:Terms like heirloom, antique, old-fashioned and old-timey imply heritage and are not understood to be synonymous with the definition provided here. So please understand that Livestock conservancy does have success. Since its founding, the conservancy has never lost a breed ranked on its conservation priority list to extinction. Right now I'm looking at a part of that list that are breeds that have graduated from the conservation priority list, in other words, breeds that were once on it but now are not. The Astralarp chicken is one of them. Brahma is another Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island, red Ashire cattle that's a cattle breed Orpington chickens, wyandotte chickens so there are many of them that are a success story, that have grown away from being close to extinction and are no longer on the conservation priority list.
Speaker 2:This guys is very important, as you can imagine, and hopefully you might want to think about getting involved, and the best way to do that is just go to the livestockconservancyorg website and there's places that you can become a member, you can donate, you can learn about their history, you can share these animals and they even have a store. If you want to go to the online store, they have T-shirts, mugs, caps, all kind of neat stuff on there, so it's really a worthwhile thing to do and they're out there to help you. I'm kind of looking at the store right now, as I'm talking about this, if they have things about horses and sheep, lots of stuff about chickens and geese, all kind of things on the store, and all of these go right back into the livestock conservancy to help keep this mission alive.
Speaker 2:So if you're kind of thinking about, well, and what's another way that I can help, well, that's to get some of these chickens that are on these conservation lists, that they have endangered lists, that and they have priority lists and they, you know, list of, okay, these birds really need to be looked at, but maybe not quite make that mark yet, and you can look these up at the livestock conservancy website and say, oh, I think I want to get some of this breed and some of that breed, and all of this helps to keep these birds from going extinct. So I hope this has kind of given you a little bit of information and maybe you'll want to kind of get involved too. I certainly am.
Speaker 2:So until next time. Thank you guys so much for listening in. Have a great day. Bye-bye.
Speaker 1:That's all we have time for today. I really hope you enjoyed listening to the podcast. Be sure to watch our videos. So, on behalf of my Papa, gary, and me, sylvie, thanks for listening.
