Bedding - Pro’s & Cons

[Kat2141]

As soon as it hits moisture, it no longer is super sharp and "cutty". It becomes basically mud.

When I was working in manufacturing, we used DE with water in machines as a slurry to clean metal plates and panels… I used it in my pool back then too but it was long before I heard about using it with chickens or dogs... so, basically I'm saying that it is likely still effective when wet, but messy...

 

[aart]

When I was working in manufacturing, we used DE with water in machines as a slurry to clean metal plates and panels… I used it in my pool back then too but it was long before I heard about using it with chickens or dogs... so, basically I'm saying that it is likely still effective when wet, but messy...

Not sure about the slurry in machines...
...but the pool app is non-food grade used for filtration.
Could have been for filtration in the metal cleaning too.

 

[Hoytman]

...point being...

...that if St. Gabriel Laboratories says it will work wet or dry to kill most common household insects..., and by their definition of insects they mean spiders, earwigs, bed bugs, etc., ...insects that are much larger than mites...insects with much tougher outer "shells" than a mere tiny mite...then it only seems like common sense that it "should" work on those tiny mites.

I'm not saying it does work, I'm saying that by their description, wet or dry, it makes sense that it "should" work on mites since it supposed to work on much larger and tougher insects.

While I'm new to chickens and therefore mite issues with them, I have 40 years experience gardening and I've found DE to work in dry form as-good-as and possibly better than sevin, or eight, in the same dry and even wet form...and the DE is natural. I have no reason to believe it won't work when sprayed on wet. I've had just as much luck controlling aphids, earwigs, Japanese beetles, and spiders with dry DE. I think I will try it wet just to see if it works as well. If it does, then I won't have to worry about breathing it during application. People forget that it works slower, much slower.

Like I said, I know DE will kill much larger insects, even those with hard outer shells, so I have trouble seeing why it wouldn't kill mites.

I'm not trying to sound argumentative, so please don't read more into my words than what is before you. Simply trying to explain what seems logical to me.

I am finding that in my own experience that my mite issue might not have been as prevalent as I thought. It's appearing that it's more of a pecking order issue with feather picking. Reason...I've treated my birds and my new coop with both DE and spray Permethrin and haven't seen anymore evidence that's mites are still there.

 

[paneubert]

Yeah, if you trust the people who own www.diatomaceousearth.com, it is no good wet.

"As you may have seen in some of our other articles, depending on the situation there are two primary ways to apply Diatomaceous Earth (i.e. Wet or Dry.) What may have been unclear, are the advantages of using a wet application method, and how it works once you apply it. If you mix DE with water, and spray it onto trees, in your garden, underneath your house, on the ceiling of your patio, DE must dry out before it will kill any bugs.

To effectively answer this question, let's start with the basics of how DE works as a pest control substance.

DE kills bugs with what we call a mechanical action; DE is very coarse and absorbent, which means that when insects walk through it, it scratches through and absorbs the waxy, oily coating that protects their exoskeletons. With that layer compromised, insects are not able to retain the moisture they need, and they dehydrate and die.

When you're developing a plan to combat a pest problem, you should always consider using a dry application method first.
The mechanical action we described above is only effective under dry, controlled conditions; even a lot of humidity can affect DE in its pest control work. Because of these complications that can arise out of applying DE wet, it should only be used when really needed."

 

[paneubert]

It always seems like DE is one of the most hotly contested topics on here. Haha.

 

[Hoytman]

I've also used DE around my house in the mulch along the foundation of the house for a major earwig issue that I had. Worked flawlessly! Sure it got wet by under the eaves of the house by blowing wind and rain, and it did appear to turn to mud. However, when it dried out I have no reason to believe that it didn't continue to perform as when it was applied dry. I put a white band along the foundation, likely way too much, but I didn't have an earwig problem anymore, and didn't see spiders in the house for at least 3 years. I did find dead spiders on our concrete quite often afterwards.

EDIT:
I actually stopped using DE several years ago simply because of the seriousness of the breathing issues it's use can cause, even when being careful, and that just didn't sit well with me since I have breathing issues. I went back to Sevin and Eight and then eventually quit those again too. I actually started picking most insects by hand...the old fashioned way.

I hadn't used DE again until getting my chickens. I even sprayed them. Using both sort of went against the grain for me, but I wanted to get a jump on the problem...if their was one...and I did see mites in my old coop. I didn't want the birds stressed, and I myself have had a lot of stress and just didn't want to deal with it. However, as time goes by I plan to keep things as clean as possible and I plan to forego using anything at all if I can help it...on my birds and in my garden. I am hoping any future insect issues in the garden will be handled by the birds...the way it should be.

EDIT 2:
aart...
I have no reason to discount your experience. I'm just telling you my experience while trying to explain to you and others my thought process.

Actually, just so you know, it was your posting of your experience with DE as a mite killer/deterrent that I decided to go ahead and spray my birds and coop. I wanted those suckers gone. I wanted help from someone more experiences with birds than me. I just combined my years of gardening experience and your bird/mite experience and made a decision. So, I used the DE, sprayed Permethrin, and put DE in the dust box in hopes that it would work. So far, I do not regret combining the experiences.

 

[aart]

aart...
I have no reason to discount your experience. I'm just telling you my experience while trying to explain to you and others my thought process.

Actually, just so you know, it was your posting of your experience with DE as a mite killer/deterrent

Huh?!
Do you mean grain mites?

 

[Hoytman]

Huh?!
Do you mean grain mites?

I was trying to say I valued your opinion in regard to using DE for mites on birds saying you didn't think it worked and considering that position on the issue prompted me to include spraying Permethrin in my efforts to eradicate the mites.

Is that more clear?

 

[Rein Quest]

When they say wet or dry. Are they referring to adding it to drinking water for deworming? I think DE was an ingredient in the natural deworming/worm prevention product I was looking at when I was wondering if I should do preventative worming.

 

[paneubert]

When they say wet or dry. Are they referring to adding it to drinking water for deworming? I think DE was an ingredient in the natural deworming/worm prevention product I was looking at when I was wondering if I should do preventative worming.

Well I took a second and looked up the DE from St. Gabriel Laboratories and I am not seeing any mention of if being used wet. In fact, if you read the label, it says to keep it dry multiple times.... All the application notes speak about using a hand duster or "bulb" blower. I would love to see where they speak about it being used wet.



You can see the packaging on Amazon.

Link: http://a.co/d/gDBIJ4P


EDIT:
It might be this version, but I cant see a photo of a label where it speaks to being used wet.
http://stgabrielorganics.com/product/goodearth-3-lbs
EDIT AGAIN: Nope...
That product is labeled as a food supplement/area "dryer/moisture sucker" and is not labeled as any sort of killer. It is advertised much in the same way that zeolite products like Sweet PDZ are advertised as keeping areas dry.

Link: http://a.co/d/7QeZnqP

Not trying to stir the pot! Just want to make sure people are looking into what they need to look into.