Ooooh googling now!!! (and thanks for the sweet words - we don't have a poultry vet either - I had to take her to a regular animal hospital where they have an avian vet - I wish to goodness there were farm-animal vets around here!!)
Hi - I was the BIGGEST DE person - when I did my spring cleaning I took everything out of the coop and rubbed everything down with DE so as to kill any mites etc...but a few days after that one of my hens got pneumonia. Double. She made it but only because I am the crazy lady who lets her hen...
because I am a relative newbie - can you tell me what that cool thing is in your coop? Looks like a garbage can with little individual feeders around the bottom?
I am like you - I go out and scoop it every morning (both the run and coop - tho I hear most people like the deep litter method I prefer to pick it out) and I do a quick once-over before sun sets. BUT....I have heard of people putting a board under the roost- I forget what it is called but it is...