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I use DE in the coop and all around the area under the trees where my chickens hang out. I also use it in the garden, a lot. I've actually gotten rid of nasty buggers such as squash bugs by being very diligent with the DE. It's not an instant poison but it really does work, slowly but effectively. It keeps the ants down, mites down and in the garden works very well on lots of bugs.
Just don't expect it to kill everything in two hours. It won't. But, in a week you'll notice the bug problem is gone. Better yet, it's great as a preventative. For instance, probably wouldn't have worked on thousands of adult squash bugs but when I noticed one juvenile, it kept anymore from maturing and turning into an epidemic.
Again, prevention is key, like in most of chicken husbandry and organic gardening. Chasing your tail with treatments almost always turns into a downward spiral with one disease following another.
Keeping everything dry, keeping the bugs down with DE, giving a varied diet with lots of greens, alfalfa, healthy fridge scraps ( including meats) , and avoiding crowding or overheating will go a long way towards healthy chickens.
When raising my little chicks:
1. I don't use a thermometer, I just watch their behavior, move the light further away or closer based on if they're acting too cold or or too hot. I prefer they be able to cool off and have an area to warm up, if the whole brooder is 95 degrees, you'll end up with pasty butt, I do keep the little ones inside the first week, just to keep a close eye on them and because I enjoy it but I try to get them out the second week because dirt and sun are good. I try to keep the brooder on the cool side, less bacterial build up and diseases it seems, so long as the chicks aren't acting chilled. Bedding is changed frequently.
2. I give sprouts and garlic chives right away, when chicks are only a few days old, along with a tiny bit of kefir and fine grit, a little organic ACV in the water
3. I don't use medicated feed and I've never had cocci
4. I like to give a bit of nutritional yeast and kelp to the chicks, I think sometimes chick starter can be lacking and chicks are growing so fast that nutritional deficiencies are not that uncommon
This has worked for me over the years. Raised peachicks, guinea keets, chicks, ducklings and quail. I've done some refinements through the years, of course.