Diatomaceous Earth? good or bad?
- Thread starter shannon84
- Start date
chickluvinfreak
Songster
What do you want to use it for? It has lots of purposes. Drying moist/wet ares, deworming and pesticide control are the most common uses. Their are probably more cons than pros when it comes to using DE. It is a lung irritant and you will have to use a mask when working with it. And chickens have sensitive respiratory systems. It hasn't been proven to kill internal worms but isn't harmful if eaten. And it is very effective at killing pests such as ants but it will kill beneficial bugs like ladybugs too. Some people say if it harms good bugs its not a natural product. But pesticides kill good bugs too so if I had choose between the two I would pick DE. Taking everything into consideration I prefer not to use it. But their are alot of people who swear by it.
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- #3
chickluvinfreak
Songster
OK wow thank you! I honesty didn't know all that! I was only using it in their feed daily for a dewormer but I heard that it was hard on their sensitive respiratory system so that had me really concernedwhat do u use ?
I don't use it. But I used to do the same thing, putting it in their feed. I stopped because of the lack of evidence that it helped control worms. But it doesnt hurt and hopefully in the future we will know more about natural dewormers. You shouldn't worry about their lungs if their only eating it. The only time it's harmful is when you clean their coop with it or make a dust bath with it. Then the chickens scratch it up in the air and are more likely to inhale it.
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- #5
Preform this little experiment. Put an ant in a clean Mayonnaise jar with about 4 ounces of DE, cover the bottle, and place it in a cool location out of the heat and the Sun. Return every day to check on the ant's health.
I sprinkle some on the bottom and sides of the empty feed bin to control any grain weevils that may hatch. (Food grade DE). Sometimes I rub it into the cracks of the nest box and brush the excess out before I replace the shavings.
That's about all I use it for.
That's about all I use it for.
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- #8
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- #9
http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/weevils-on-stored-grain
The chicken feed I use has whole grains in it. Very rarely I've seen a few weevils, so I use the DE just in case any hatch in the feed container.
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