How much DE do you put down?

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ksbmom

ksbmom

In the Brooder
11 Years
Jul 2, 2008
34
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I've searched the forum for the answer to this and didn't find anything -- how much DE do you put down in your coop/run? I just recently found out about DE and I have been putting it in the coop and in the run (which is pure dirt) after I clean everything out every week for pest control. My question is how much are you supposed to put out? Do you need to reapply every day? Every week? I have just been sprinkling around a few shovelfuls - the run area is about 200 square feet or so. Thanks for your help!
 
I'm not exactly an expert, but I just use a couple of chicken-feed scoopfuls to sprinkle in the coop and in the parts of the run the chickens hang out in most. The run is actually a big fenced-in area, about 9000 square feet, so I'd go broke if I did the entire thing! I don't redo it every week, maybe every three weeks? Hope this helps.
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I use DE about once a month in my coop and run. I fill a coffee can and just scatter here, there and yonder leaving a thin layer and sometimes piles which I just scatter with my foot. I use to use a flour sifter and sift a layer everywhere but that got tiring real quick.

Hope this helps
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i take a coffe can and sprinkle it over their roost board in the morning and a bit on the floor - then sweep the dry poo off in the evening -put it in the compost pile. am happy that there is very little odor in the coop. the run is gravel and sand ( like someone else suggested ) and I sprinkle it in there about once a week and rake it in.
 
The manufacturer recommends 5% by weight, but this is difficult to attain, very impractical unless you want to have scales in your coop. I sprinkle 2-4 cups lightly around the perimeter of my coop and run weekly and the result is very satisfactory (12 birds).

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My theory is ....................

"If it's White, it's Right"

Meaning, just fling it everywhere! like this
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On the roosts, in the nestboxes, on the litter, on the walls, in the run, in the dusting box, on the dog, on the husband, cat. Oh yeah on the chickens too.

I mix about 1/2 coffee can in a 50lb bag of feed too.
 
Quote:
That's what I do too...make sure there's a layer of white on everything! I do this every time we clean the coop. Probably once every week or week and a half. I try to get some in the feeders often too and on the chickens! I use a little wire mesh hand-held colander and just sift the DE thru it.

I also sprinkle zeolite around in my coop, but I just put that on the floor. The DE goes on the roosts, nest boxes floor, everywhere!

P.S. if you get DE, make sure you get the food grade kind...NOT the swimming pool filter kind!!! The wrong kind can kill your chickens!
 

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