Azomite or DE?

I have been told that feeding my chickens Azomite is good for them. I was wondering if anyone can tell me is Azomite the same as DE or different? And which would be better or is both good for them? Thank You in advance.

Azomite:
Quote: Sounds pretty much like what would be in a random handful of what most people call "soil".
It's also pretty much the same sales pitch used for DE

http://www.azomite.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61&Itemid=15
Quote: Feeding this or DE would seem to be a waste of money if you go by science instead of a sales pitch

Azomite and DE are two completely separate things.

We use azomite for our sheep and goats as a mineral supplement. Our birds love it too. It is not much different than sweetlix minerals or putting out a mineral block. It has the same benefits. It has over 75 trace minerals that are lacking in our soil. Anyone who understands chemistry will understand how it works and why it is good for animals. In order for animals to assimilate certain vitamins and minerals, they need ALL of them. It also has other minerals such as silica which removes heavy deadly minerals. It is actually very much based on science and anyone who knows basic chemistry and how minerals work with each other will understand it.

We provide it free choice along with kelp, goat minerals and diamond v yeast for our sheep and goats. We use it in place of grit for our chickens as we feel it is the healthier choice. Yes, it is dirt but our animals eat it plain and we have noticed they are significantly heathier as a result. They do very good at judging what nutrients they need for themselves. Just for the record, minerals and dirt are the same thing! If you breakdown a soil sample, every particle is a mineral or nutrient. This is what a professional soil analysis does. All soil has health benefits to it if eaten plain. Many vitamins are even made from dirt. But here n the NW, due to heavy rainfall, we are sadly deficient in many of the important ones. The pacific NW is very deplete in selenium, magnesium, cobalt, copper and many other minerals and nutrients.

You know the only way to know for sure is to try it and see if it works for you before you judge it. If you can even find a local source that carries it, try it. Freight alone is sky-high. Whenever, we run out - our one goat with arthritis starts limping but is cured as soon as we give her azomite. She would not be alive without it. Our livestock vet now recommends it too. Our animals are just healthier overall. They become sick and start having other issues if we take them off of it for even a couple weeks. It is really important you don't just take them off of it, they will usually start having issues if you do. Speaking from experience here! Wean them off slowly. We also have almost zero parasites (copper kills internal parasites naturally, there are other minerals that do this too). They do sell a concentrated feed version in granulated form that we use. As for the warnings on the bags, you will find that on almost all gardening and feed products, so don't let tthat scare you. Anything that can be airborne when someone dumps a bag out has to have a warning label that we might get it in our eyes or breathe it in. It is rather annoying when people post judgement about something they have never even tried! That is not helpful to anyone.

Azomite is great in combination with other methods you are already practicing. For example, I give our sheep azomite with dolomite mag/calcium when they are nursing. During the summer, I give it to them along with extra selenium and vitamin E to help them deal with the heat. I also spread Azomite in certain areas of our pasture as part of our long-term soil restoration plan. I am fortunate to have a feed store that orders it for me so I have no freight charges.

A great resource is animal scientist and shepardess Pat Coleby who wrote "natural care of sheep." She is a proponent of bringing minerals to animals. You can can find more information on azomite in goat and sheep forums, The chicken world just simply hasn't caught onto it yet.

Silica is an inert substance that, by definition, really does pretty much nothing at all

Quote: Exactly, which is why the "75 trace mineral" claim is sales hype to get you to buy THEIR dirt

Quote: The "cure all" sales pitch is exactly the same

Quote: Over 75 "Trace Minerals"?
I think you may be off a little.

Quote: from azomite.com Chemically, AZOMITE® is a hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate (HSCAS) containing other minerals and trace elements
HSCAS = Sodium, Calcium, Aluminium, Silicon, and Oxygen

There is only 7 trace minerals needed in supplementing animal diets. These minerals are only needed in trace amounts in the diet, and hence their name "trace minerals."

Cobalt
Copper
Iodine
Iron
Manganese
Selenium
and Zinc


Chris

Actually, we need more trace minerals than we realize. Animals too. 75 or 70. What a petty correction! Copying and pasting from the website to correct me (we can all read, thank you very much) does not change the fact that this product has changed our lives. It's almost as silly as copying and pasting the dust warning signs. Entertaining, but not helpful. I have since noticed the dust warning labels on all of our feed bags. It's everywhere. For us, when it comes to azomite, the proof is in the health of our animals.

Since we've started azomite, I have not had a single health issue nor have had to put a single animal down. Health issues we did have cleared up immediately and have not returned since. Our goat that was so very sick and limping is now running and jumping. Our vet recommended we put her down as she was so bad, now he is also a believer of azomite. She went from being down crawling on the ground for three months straight to hoppng around in less than 48 hours after being given azomite. I never expected it. Our sheep all got pregnant and are successfully lambing with no need for help. We also no longer have to worm our animals due to overall health just being better. A weekly herb treatment is all they need for maintenance. If someone does not want to try it because they don't fully understand the benefits, that's their perogative. There are lots of products out there.

Our animals that are well-fed fight over eating azomite when I put it out. Of all the minerals we put out, they eat this one the most. If someone actually tried it and had no or negative results, that would be a more helpful review. But our own experience has been really great and I will continue to use it. The few times I have stopped using it because we ran out, our goat starts her limping all over again but it is cleared up as soon as she gets azomite. Our vet has told us to keep using it and has reported other clients also having good results. He did say that he thought it had to do with overload of certain minerals, binding, etc. A lot of stuff I didn't understand but that our goat might be more sensitive to that than other animals. She is a warm climate breed so that might account for it. Also, everyone else I have recommended it to now also love it and we all buy it regularly. A few of my friends buy it in bulk to split the cost for their chickens and ducks. I have a neighbor that now gives it to her Angus cows as her soil analysis is the same as ours.

We found azomite after doing a complete soil analysis of our pastures, azomite was the best fit for our farm as it has the minerals we are lacking in our soil, water and grass. In working with a soil scientist, we found azomite. When you compare our soil analysis next to the azomite analysis, they balance each other out very well. It s very unhealthy for animals to get too much of certain minerals and not have others to balance them out. We had two choices, give it directly to our animals or spread it out over the pastures. It is more affordable for us to give it directly to the animals than to try to spread it out over many acres. It would require several truckloads to spread it out. Azomite has been a great experience for us and I am hoping our soil health improves through the animals eating it. I do add a little bit to our mag/calcium mixture when we spread it out over the pasture in an effort to introduce it slowly at a time. I'll let you know how the next soil analysis comes out in a year.

I do recommend having a soil and water analysis done if you haven't. You will understand how minerals work in a way you didn't before. It's a great experience. Also, you might not benefit from azomite if your soil already has all the minerals it needs. We live in a wet and rainy climate and generally azomite does well in those areas.

You also asked about DE. It seems that is more a personal experience thing. Some have used it and swear by it. Others can't live without it. I can only share our personal experience. It seems to work if we use a large volume of it. In our barns, we spread it over manure piles to keep them dry and it also reduces fly population drasticallyy when we spread it. A couple years ago we had a severe ant problem that would not go away. They literally had a highway circle around the outside of our house. We didn't want to use chemicals so I picked up a couple bags of DE and spread it in a 25 feet radius around the outside of our house. Within a couple days, you could see the ants carrying back their fallen comrades. It was kind of sad to see. After about a week, only a few stragglers remained and now they are completely gone. We believe they relocated to a spot out in the trees which we are fine with. We also had less insects overall that year and I think it because of the DE.

It doesn't seem to do anything for us with internal parasites and I think that is because when wet, it is useless. Even DE websites sometimes state this. Instead we make our own herbal dewormers from herbs we buy from Rose Mountain Herbs. Mugwort, hyssop, cayenne, wormwood, pumpkin, cloves and much more. We cured a blackhead outbreak with cayenne and I now only use tumeric for coccidosis. DE doesn't cover those things and the herbs provide other nutrional benefits that are safe for all the animals. There are about 11 herbs we use and we grind them up and mix them into the feed.

Again, it depends on who you ask. I know people who use it for internal parasites and say it work. It might depend on quality, etc.
Hope that helps!

furryloo said:

It doesn't seem to do anything for us with internal parasites and I think that is because when wet, it is useless. Even DE websites sometimes state this. Instead we make our own herbal dewormers from herbs we buy from Rose Mountain Herbs. Mugwort, hyssop, cayenne, wormwood, pumpkin, cloves and much more. We cured a blackhead outbreak with cayenne and I now only use tumeric for coccidosis. DE doesn't cover those things and the herbs provide other nutrional benefits that are safe for all the animals. There are about 11 herbs we use and we grind them up and mix them into the feed.

Click to expand...

I don't want to change the subject from DE but I am curious about your recipes and uses for herbals. I was using DE for worming but herbals sound more effective. I just haven't found an herbal recipe and doing a search didn't reveal any. Would you mind sharing your recipe for deworming and if you recommend any books, etc on the topic of herbals for poultry or any other tips you've found? Thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge!

Excellent topic. Right, DE is different from Azomite. As far as which would be 'better', if I had to choose just one I would choose the azomite. However neither is expensive.

I was specifically wondering about using Azomite granular in place of granite grit for my duck flock I'll be starting this spring. Furryloo it sounds like that's exactly what you are doing.

Furryloo, do you also use the granular for your goats? I'm getting goats as well (Nigerian Dwarf). Or would the powder/micronized be better for the goats? Thanks also for that herbal wormer formula, I was looking for a good recipe for it.

Not to get off topic, but Furryloo I was curious what brand/type of other supplements you use for the goats (selenium, vitamin E, copper)?

I consume Azomite powder and DE personally also. I add Azomite to things I ferment such as kombucha and sauerkraut to make sure all trace minerals are present. I don't like however that it looks like it contains nearly 20% alumina (aluminum), though things I've read about people who consume clay say it also contains sufficient silica to prevent the aluminum from being an issue.