can i use diatomaceuos earth to worm my chickens??

[Frankie Ruiz]

can i use diatomaceuos earth to worm my chickens??

 

[Michael Apple]

can i use diatomaceuos earth to worm my chickens??

You can but it won't remove worms nor benefit the health of your chickens.

 

[gander007]

 

[Chicks Galore3]

There is a lot of debate on whether or not DE helps or damages or does nothing. I think it can work as a dusting powder but not for worms. I try to be a all-natural chicken keeper but there IS a point in time were store-bought stuff is the best way to go.

 

[casportpony]

You can but it won't remove worms nor benefit the health of your chickens.

X2! Get a proper wormer like Safeguard or Valbazen.

-Kathy

 

[dawg53]

DE will not prevent nor treat for worms.

 

[OldChurchEggery1]

Pumpkin seeds (raw) are reputed to have a de-worming effect, but searching "anthelmintic effects of pumpkins" or "of cucurbits" in general doesn't yield any irrefutable scientific support. There were a few studies cited National Institutes of Health's PubMed website, but as I mentioned, the effect of pumpkin seeds generally hasn't been tested in such a way that would make it a sure-fire success compared to Ivermectin or some similar commercial de-wormer. My chickens definitely like eating split open pumpkins and if it happens to have an unconfirmed side effect of ridding them of worms, so much the better. I'm not willing to intentionally infect them with intestinal parasites and conduct a full-fledged trial to find out, though!

Edited to add links:

Link to study of plant-based de-wormers in Kenya (pumpkins not included) : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14729169
Link to study of an Indian bottle gourd and its medicinal applications including de-worming (anthelmintic) properties: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3117318/

 

[dawg53]

I dont recommend ivermectin for worming chickens. It has been overused as a miteacide in chickens and worms have built resistance to the product.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0450.1989.tb00635.x/abstract

 

[Michael Apple]

There is a lot of debate on whether or not DE helps or damages or does nothing. I think it can work as a dusting powder but not for worms. I try to be a all-natural chicken keeper but there IS a point in time were store-bought stuff is the best way to go.

Chickens do not have mammalian lungs. Chickens have interior and posterior air sacs. Air enters the trachea, half of the inhaled air enters the posterior air sacs, and the other half passes through the lungs into interior air sacs. These sacs contract during exhalation, air from the interior sacs empties into the trachea and out the chicken's mouth or nostrils (nares). The oxygen in the chicken's lungs is the same as the environment. When being exposed to DE, it is often recommended to use a respirator by OSHA since it is so easily airborne, causing an alarming rate of silica in the lungs. What enters lungs is not expelled, and they don't make respirators for chickens. I would not be surprised if many respiratory problems people experience are from the use of DE since they seem to treat birds and cannot overcome symptoms of respiratory illness. Like I've said before, just because a product is labeled "natural" does not mean it is beneficial.

 

[casportpony]

I love this picture


-Kathy