Questions on DE.. Help Please!

[bruced]

How does DE affect the earthworm population in your manure pile? Will the DE kill off all earthworms? If it does, do you keep the manure separate from your other compost piles where you want the earthworms to flourish?

I want to control the flies and mites, but dont want to kill off the good earthworms. How do you manage both?

 

[tiffster011]

Do you suggest all backyard chicken owners use DE? I have 4 hens, it is a good preventative pest control?

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Do you suggest all backyard chicken owners use DE? I have 4 hens, it is a good preventative pest control?

There's no scientific evidence that shows DE does anything other than kill some insects when used in a DRY form.

It's main use is to controll bugs in stored grain, and only has a "food grade" rating because it cannot be removed.

It wont hurt you to eat it, but it wont help you either.
DE is mostly silica, so taking it as a "mineral supplement" is pointless

The typical chemical composition of diatomaceous earth is 86% silica, 5% sodium, 3% magnesium and 2% iron.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth

If youll notice, all the sites making the varied claims about what it's good for are ALSO trying to sell you some.​

 

[PunkinPeep]

The main reason i use d.e. is to keep my bedding reasonably dry and non-stinky and to keep the bedding from making the mites and other creepy crawlies comfortable in my coop. I really really like it for that. It also magically helps my chickens keep their feet clean. I LOVe that!

I did want to point out that i think d.e.'s dustiness factor affects different people differently. After we first put d.e. in the coop, my husband had to do some work in there, and he spent 24 hours recovering from inflammation in his sinuses. But not me, i can go in there and send dust all over and have no problems at all. Honestly, i don't even notice it.

So if you're like my husband whose sinus passages are apparently WIDE open, you might want to be really careful until you know how it affects you.

 

[honeydoll]

Bear Foot Farm: There have been a lot of testimonials from people who swear it helps. Maybe for them it really has but for others it won't?. I thought what the heck I'll try it and see if the hoopla about it is true. So I took my first dose yesterday. I need proof too, and if it works for me GREAT! But I'm not holding my breath, I just want to see for myself. But if it does work well for me that doesn't mean it will for someone else or vica versa.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Bear Foot Farm: There have been a lot of testimonials from people who swear it helps

Testimonials are "hearsay", and not "evidence" or "proof" of anything

I have never been able to find any real scientific data to back up any of those claims.

I'd be happy to see some if anyone can produce it.
All I can find is sales hype without any real data

So I took my first dose yesterday. I need proof too, and if it works for me GREAT

What is it you expect it to do? How will you know it's doing anything at all?​

 

[honeydoll]

Well, I have read claims it increases energy and helps joint pain as well as healthier hair and nails. So this is what I am specifically looking for results in. They say it detoxes you too, now it's only been one day and so far all I have noticed is well....gas. Sorry kinda gross, I know but true.

Also, everything about DE is hearsay, even saying it's an old wives tale - because noone has ever proved it to work as the claimed but I cannot find studies to say it doesn't. Is there any actual studies proving it doesn't deworm or help humans in any way. I really want to know. I cannot find any scientific data to prove the claims are not true either.

 

[bruced]

Does anyone have experience with diatomacious earth afftecting their earthworm population?

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:

good question

 

[ozark hen]

Quote:
I just use it in my coop/run and have seen worms in the run around the waterers.