Animal/Food grade DE

[jellyfish147]

Hi, could anyone help me with learning about DE
Especially the different kinds,
Whats wrong with animal grade DE for chickens
I heard something mentioned about silica
All input would be great learning information being a newbie to chicken keeping
many thanks

 

[sumi]

Here is a good article on DE, the different types, uses etc:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/food-grade-de-diatomaceous-earth

 

[jellyfish147]

I bought the item from ebay she has 100% feedback
The mistake if any is mine i just wanted to get the right stuff
I emailed her to find out what the silica content was (because i dont know what is safe and what isnt)
she replied telling me the silica content is 87.4%
then seemed rather put out and let loose with a load of information below..

We have been selling this for years and supply very large poultry units and if you wish to waste your money on an item much more expensive because it is for humans to eat then feel free to return the item to exchange. please enclose a note explaining what you require and your email address for us to send the invoice.
The silica content of this current batch is 87.4%.
What are your poultry interested in the silica content for?
Are you sure it is not FEED grade they are saying and if its food grade which forums and where are they saying they buy from.
If you look at item number 230974850191 this company is a poultry supplier and they are telling a big lie by adding the part food grade to there title the sack is animal feed grade and under no circumstances should this be sold as food grade or consumed by humans and the sack is supplied by our supplier so as you see there is so much rubbish out there being told.

kind regards
Julie

 

[jellyfish147]

so in short is it ok/would you give Animal feed grade DE to your chickens
its 87.4% silica
and if not could someone educate me why please?
TID

 

[sumi]

See second post here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/13034/diatomaceous-earth-did-i-buy-right-kind

And look at the article I linked for you above. It's well worth a read. There are loads of links to discussions on DE, the different types and all the questions regarding DE is covered there in detail.

 

[jellyfish147]

See second post here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/13034/diatomaceous-earth-did-i-buy-right-kind

And look at the article I linked for you above. It's well worth a read. There are loads of links to discussions on DE, the different types and all the questions regarding DE is covered there in detail.

hi, sumi thanks for trying to help, the article just tells me i should use "food grade" DE
It doesnt tell me any reasons why tho
Is food grade different to "animal feed grade" DE
I ve got a jar of DE that says animal feed grade, i want to dust their nesting boxes and coop and sprinkle some into their dust bath obviously i dont want to do this if im missing something glaringly obvious ..ive got 2 young boys that would never speak to me again if i gave "their" chickens the wrong product

 

[sumi]

If the DE you bought contains 87% silica you should not feed it to your chickens. It need to say "food grade", i.e. be suitable for humans to consume. There are different grades of DE and most of them are not suitable to feed to animals. Feedstores and others who sell DE unfortunately often doesn't know the difference and will sell you the wrong product. Again, please refer to this article:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/food-grade-de-diatomaceous-earth

There are links to discussions on DE, the uses, the grades etc. This is good suggestion:



We have been selling this for years and supply very large poultry units and if you wish to waste your money on an item much more expensive because it is for humans to eat then feel free to return the item to exchange. please enclose a note explaining what you require and your email address for us to send the invoice.


If the DE is not safe for human consumption it is not safe for your chickens. Rather spent the extra to get a safe product or look into alternative methods of parasite control.

 

[jellyfish147]

thankyou, its all about learning..really appreciate your help