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
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