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What DE Really Is, uses

9K views 42 replies 22 participants last post by  robin416 
#1 ·
Fossils, is what it is. This is a link to a great article on DE. All new chicken owners need to know what DE is and use it. You can purchase Diotomacious Earth (DE) online, local farm or tractor supply, not sure about UK. DE is a must for controlling pest: flies, bugs, mites, lice, ticks, internal parrasites, worms, etc. Application: I wait until my girls are out of the coop, dawn on eye protection, grab handfuls and toss, heavily powder floor. I put it on my bedding, in my boxes and also have a cat pan/box with DE in it. For the DE cat box, the birds will dust bathe in it, keep it in cool dry location. Some people mix ash or light sterile dirt in the cat box with the DE, I use it straight. Internal/feed: DE is a natural wormer/parrasites, about a cup to 50 lbs of food, read the package or google the dosage. When: I recommend giving this at 4 -6 weeks of age, once birds are outside. I dust about every 2 weeks, most heavily when I change bedding. Caution Note: eye and respiratory irritant, never and issue with the my birds, and I use it heavily in the coop. I use eye wear and don't breathe it in. I even dust bathed my puppy in it, before she was old enough for flea and tick. Others: Puppy, Patches, came from a farm and was loaded with ticks/fleas; DE and a tick comb did the trick. You can use it on most live stock, internal dosing to feed varies, see package. You can also use it to scrub items, houshold, pool etc., cooktops, it is a great cleanser, just scrub, wipe up and polish off residue. I use it on my glass cooktop and then polish off with windex. Please share anyother uses you've found, thanks.

What's DE: http://www.squidoo.com/fossilflour
How much DE: http://www.squidoo.com/fossilflour#module28312712
Also: http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp
 
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#2 ·
Sorry ... I did try it but ... no.

I used it with the goats, sheep and for fleas ...

I know a lot of folks that use it ... but I could not tell a difference...

Sorry ... :eek:
 
#5 ·
Don't use pool DE for anything but the pool....it has other chemicals in it.

I use DE (foodgrade) around my house and in my garden for insect control. I use it in my coop (heavily) chicken feed and dog feed. Some swear by it and others don't. We all consume it and don't know it...It's mixed in flour and other products as an anti-caking agent. Below is a website that talks about all the different uses and suggested daily doses. You can also find/buy it under the name fossil flour. And Yes, I also take it internally but not daily, usually because I forget. I've also used it as a blood cloating agent on those occassions I trim the dog nails too short or cut myself shaving my legs.

http://www.earthworkshealth.com/
 
#6 ·
P.S. I find it best as a preventative/deterrent, when it comes to fleas/bugs. It doesn't kill the bugs dead, it takes a day or two and then more are still hatching. So if you don't use it long enough to break the cycle, you'll think it doesn't work. The nice thing is it's chemical free and completely non-toxic. For those worried about inhaling it, it has the same precautions as talcum/baby powder and that stuff is loaded with chemicals! I even use it on my birds regularly for lice, etc. You can probably get faster results with chemicals but I try to avoid chemicals.
 
#7 ·
Sorry, I disagree about Diatomaceous Earth. D.E. is all hype. Years ago I bought into the hype. I used food-grade DE religiously, in the nest boxes, the chicken's dusting holes, in the coop, about the run, etc. I even added it to their feed (teaspoon per cup) & dusted the birds themselves with it. They still got mites. After they got mites, I completely dusted some birds with it from head to toe, and it failed to kill the mites. They had so much DE on them that when they shook, it created a white cloud.

My birds still got worms too when I was using DE in their feed. I never believed it as a wormer. Internal parasites have evolved for many tens of thousands of years to inhabit a bird's digestive tract. Believe me, a little DE is not going to do the trick. Better as a natural dewormer is cayenne pepper powder or tobacco leaf stems [or chewing tobacco] (tobacco can serve as a natural deterrent against mites & lice too). Neither of these are end all cures but their is research backing up their effectiveness.

DE DOES NOT DO ANYTHING GOOD DIRT OR FINE SAND WILL NOT DO. Dust bathing with good dirt is a preventative generally against external parasites in poultry but will not keep your birds from getting mites. If you have not gotten mites before, then you are lucky, that's all.

Before I was in the profession I am in now, I was a geologist and specialized in micropaleontology (so diatoms, forams, conodonts were the things I studied). I've looked at sand grains too & they are just as angular and sharp as diatoms under the microscope. If anything, the DE is a finer particulate and therefore easily sucked in a breath to your lungs, the chicken's lung & could do more harm than say, sand or good dirt in the dust hole. Diatoms make their skeletons out of silica (SiO2) i.e. Quartz -- same as white beach sand -- DE is just finer than sand-size.

I attempted to use DE on fire ant beds to see it it worked. I have buried fire ant beds with the DE, and the ants survived & just incorporated it into their hills.
 
#10 ·
Yeah, I was waiting for an explanation on DE, seen some articles that talk about it, but still was curious, Not sure if I am gonna use it, need more chicken
reasearch. Thank you for links.

P.S. There is a lot of "hype" in chickland. Educate yourself and decide what is best for your chickens.
 
#13 ·
From what I understand, it is a natural product. Can anyone give me any evidence that DE is bad or harmful? I am also gonna say the source of your DE is important, too.

I am pretty sure, when and if you do get mites or lice, you will try it. I haven't yet, but want to purchase some for preventive precautions. Thoughts??
 
#15 ·
From what I understand, it is a natural product. Can anyone give me any evidence that DE is bad or harmful? I am also gonna say the source of your DE is important, too.

I am pretty sure, when and if you do get mites or lice, you will try it. I haven't yet, but want to purchase some for preventive precautions. Thoughts??
I used Food grade DE ... but like I said, I saw little difference. It was big in the goat world for a while.
 
#17 ·
What do do? DE or not to DE! I read this thread and am now less decided than before I began reading. A LOT of people have reservations about Sevin Dust and apparently many are anti-DE. I am a wildlife rehabber, plus I have goats and poultry and peafowl and guineas and guinea pigs and doves and more. I like to try and beat back things like flies and lice and worms and all other evil parasites. I am so confused!
 
#18 ·
BootedBantam said:
Yeah, I was waiting for an explanation on DE, seen some articles that talk about it, but still was curious, Not sure if I am gonna use it, need more chicken
reasearch. Thank you for links.

P.S. There is a lot of "hype" in chickland. Educate yourself and decide what is best for your chickens.
Educate yourself is the best answer so far on this thread. Like others I us DE for my animals and my garden. First thing, it's not a chemical so it won't work quickly. When I was researching it as a wormer, the consensus was that you needed to keep using it for two to four weeks to break the chain of worms. Same with external pests, it's gonna take time. Now, do your iwn research but in my experience it has been a safe ad natural way to combat pest. But, I continue to use it after the infestation is gone to control the vermin before they get established. Always use food grade DE on anything that produce your food. If you have asthma or other pulmonary problems be careful and use a mask when you are applying it.

That reminds me I had better go out On my way! De in the coop, weather is warming and flies ar going o star showing up.
 
#21 ·
I think I'll give it a shot. As a starting place, clean the chicken house and put the DE under the shavings... or on top of? In addition, put a box with DE for dust bathing? Dust the birds themselves? Put it in the food as well? My flock goes out during the day, in the outdoor pen or more frequently out in the yard. Would it be practicle or useful to put DE in the dirt where they dust bathe, those charming holes that appear on lawn, in garden and flower beds, or is that futile.And forgive me for getting off topic (DE), but what about other products? Does anyone have something for mites or other crawling creatures that they love and feel strongly about? Drugs, water additives, etc. I do not have any out of the ordinary issues but like I said I like to keep the little nasties in check. I get fly predators in the warm months but getting back to DE, if it helps with flies I'm excited about it! I purchased a 6lb thing of Red Lake Easth DE with calcium, 12 $. Was this expensive? Am I going to need more? Does it come in giant bags? Am I asking way too many questions for one post? LOL!
 
#22 ·
yag113 said:
I think I'll give it a shot. As a starting place, clean the chicken house and put the DE under the shavings... or on top of? In addition, put a box with DE for dust bathing? Dust the birds themselves? Put it in the food as well? My flock goes out during the day, in the outdoor pen or more frequently out in the yard. Would it be practicle or useful to put DE in the dirt where they dust bathe, those charming holes that appear on lawn, in garden and flower beds, or is that futile.And forgive me for getting off topic (DE), but what about other products? Does anyone have something for mites or other crawling creatures that they love and feel strongly about? Drugs, water additives, etc. I do not have any out of the ordinary issues but like I said I like to keep the little nasties in check. I get fly predators in the warm months but getting back to DE, if it helps with flies I'm excited about it! I purchased a 6lb thing of Red Lake Easth DE with calcium, 12 $. Was this expensive? Am I going to need more? Does it come in giant bags? Am I asking way too many questions for one post? LOL!
1. I sprinkle DE on top. On top of the roost, on top of the wood shavings in the coup. As the flock stirs up and dig in the deep shavings they move the DE down and through the shavings and on to themselves. I believe that dusting the coop and roosts with DE has been very effective in controlling flies.
2. I don't feed DE continuously but will add it to about every third bag of feed.
3. DE can be purchased in 50 lb bags. Shipping does drive up the cost. I buy Permanent-Guard food grade in 50 lb bags. I've been buying on EBay from Wolf Creek Ranch Outlet. A 50 lb bag with shipping is costing $53, which is a very competitive price. I now see that Permanent-Guard has a web site WWW.Perma-Guard.com which gives distributor information all over US.
4. 50 lbs last me abou 8 or 10 months, but I haven't had to use it on my garden in a while. If that changes I might go through 100 lbs a year.
 
#25 ·
Yes. I had to take many chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry courses before and after Vet School. As well as toxicology classes. Also had to be certified to administer chemicals for farm animals and pets. And I hold an active DEA license. Sorry if that intimidates you.
No, I'm not intimidated ... but as you spoke of the chemicals in 7 dust, I was going to ask you to explain why or which, you were most scared of.

Just saying... No one on this forum has my permission to bully me, make fun of me, or put me down. Got it?

So knock it off.
I was not being a bully, nor did I make fun of you nor put you down. So I guess I will look it up for myself.

Thanks ...
 
#26 ·
Darn...my post just disappeared. Anyway getting back the matter at hand...to DE or not... I have some 3 week old chicks in the kitchen that are exhibiting dust bathing behavior. Since they are in the kitchen I wouldn't think they yet have mites but then again I have many creatures come through my kitchen since I do wildlife rehab. I try keep it where it should be but I am not perfect nor do I live in a perfect world so maybe they have mites or do they do dust bathing instinctively? Should I put a dish with DE in their habitat and let them go to town?
 
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