Cleaning the Coop--do you use anything extra??

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I know for sure that Food Grade DE does not hurt an earth worm so I'm sure small animals will be fine. It's ok for use on kittens too

 

[WikkitGateFarm]

A little bit of Stall Dry works well. Much cheaper and easier to find than DE labeled for human consumption.

Now that I think of it, I should add that moisture management in the coop is important for the health of your birds (not to mention the health of the coop itself. building+water=woodpile.) Make sure you have adequate ventilation, and are managing the drinkers or waterers to reduce spills and drips.

 

[Suisan]

I really wouldn't suggest using any additive to guinea pig bedding. Food grade DE is OK, but even then, you're not supposed to inhale the dust.

Guinea pig noses are *right* in the litter all the time. I would think that they'd be inhaling DE dust all the time. I have three guinea pigs in a large cage, and if you have a large enough cage, they also run laps and jump around quite a bit -- which is going to kick up more dust. And guinea pigs are quite prone to upper respiratory infections too.

So for all of these reasons, I wouldn't go near them with DE, but that's just my opinion.

I plan on using DE with the chickens and I've used Stall Dry with horses quite a bit. So definitely a DE advocate, but not for cavy litter.

 

[Anny]

how much stall dry do you add per square foot?

 

[TheMartianChick]

Be careful when using DE... It can be hazardous to the honeybee population.

 

[tmk]

For the control of tick population, I hear guinea fowls love to eat them

But from many discussions in this forum, Food grade DE seems to be a "must-have" item for sweet smelling coop

 

[WikkitGateFarm]

Quote:
Far less than the large type instructions say, since they're for soaking up horse urine!

I sprinkle in about a cup over a 10'x10' area. That's probably overkill.

 

[sundance]

DE is great for ticks, and fleas on pets,doesn't hurt them and will take a few days to kill but doeswork,I also add DE to the hay when i clean out my coop. Ialso take a handful and put it on the roosts just in case they might have mites.keeps odor down to, Marrie

 

[Run-A-Muck Ranch]

We just went through and 'spring cleaned' our coop this last weekend....

What a difference....
It wasn't 'bad' before, but was due for it's cleaning.

We took everything out....nest boxes, roosts, feeders, waterers, etc. etc.

Cleaned everything down. Scrapped the floors of the coop, sprayed everything down, even the nest boxes. Let everything air dry outside. In the coop itself I sprayed it all down, swept all the water out. Let dry, then sprinkled DE around everything. where the walls and floors meet, in the corners, window sills, anywhere the chickens sit, sprinkled it over the whole floor.
Then brought everything back in....put DE in each nest box, on each roost, put DE on top of the new bedding. Refilled all feed dishes (put DE in there too). Filled all the water dishes back up, and put a shallow bucket of oyster shells and DE out.
Then in the outdoor run we racked that all up. Sprayed down then cement area, filled the pool, sprinkled some DE on the ground. Brought in some tree branches for the birds to jump around on, then found some icky wood, that I put in there and the birds went crazy getting all the little bugs that were in there...

They love there cleaned coops. And are having a ball in there. They also love to be out free ranging.

I do have a fly strip hanging in there just incase and on the walls in the barn I did hang a few air fresheners(not in chicken reach). I put them out there, more for my personal choices than anything else.....

Shawna

 

[spatcher]

If anyone is interested I sell PermaGuard Codex Food Grade DE which is arguably the best made. Contains less than one half of one percent of crystalline silica which, from what Ive read, is the lowest of all manufacturers. Also FDA approved for feed. PM me for more info.