When hens are housed in cages, they are unable to dustbathe. The cause to dustbathing has been researched quite thoroughly over the years, while the importance of this behaviour to the hen is not yet known. Various trials have determined that hens have a need to dustbathe. This study examined a hen’s willingness to work to obtain dustbathing substrate by making her pass through a swinging door that has a certain amount of weight attached to it. The hens were trained to push through the door to gain access to peat moss. The goal of the study was to determine the maximum amount of weight a hen was willing to work against to gain access to the peat moss. Some hens were deprived access to any dustbathing materials in their cage and were compared to those whom were not. The hens that were deprived of dustbathing materials tended to push more weight and make more attempts to move the door than those that were given dustbathing materials. Those that were deprived of dustbathing material also performed significantly more dustbathing bouts when they accessed the peat moss, showing a motivation to dustbathe. This study found that even though deprived hens to have the motivation to dustbathe, they may not work to access the substrate if they recently have had an opportunity to dustbathe. This behaviour seems to more opportunistic than a need due to their willingness to work for the substrate.