DE and dust

[CallyB57]

I sprinkle it on the hen house floor, then put clean pine shavings on top of that. I have never had 'poo' stick to the floor, and it keeps everything dry. I rake gently to avoid too much dust in the air. My chickens preen a lot, but do not scratch at all...I don't think any of them have a mite on them. I also add about 1/2 tsp. to about 10 lbs. of feed. Has not harmed them and seems to keep them parasite free inside and out.

 

[CallyB57]

It's a board underneath where the chickens roost to catch the ton of poopoo they drop each night.

I don't use one, I just turn the poo into the pine shavings and change out the shavings about every 6 weeks. Will probably change the shavings out only once or twice during the winter months.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
If you look at my personal page (link at left, under my name) you can see a droppings board under the roost in the pic of my sussexes.


Pat

 

[gjoyner]

ok cool! thanks. Its just a board you put under the roost. nice!

 

[RendonRoo]

Food grade DE is in almost everything we eat. Was discussing this with a friend last night. When i was a kid it was rather common for kids to get worms(tape worms, ring worms, etc). Now days it's almost unheard of. I don't know if it's because we eat the stuff in most of our foods or not but seems possible. I read yesterday that it will also help control fleas and ticks on pets. You can add it to dog food and dust them in it also.

 

[gjoyner]

Really? Thats really interesting! i got some off Amazon..its called Greensense..it didnt seem that expensive. I only got a pound to start off with.

 

[edselpdx]

Quote:
When I asked about DE at the local urban chicken nursery here in Portland, the guy looked at me quizzically and asked if I *had* a mite or flea problem. Their recommendations are NOT to routinely use DE (even food grade) as it does carry warnings about respiratory hazards to people and livestock. I did some more research, and deep litter does NOT require DE. I have had no problems with odors or dust in my coop, and no bugs either.

My chix routinely take dust baths out in their run, and for most people with a small backyard flock, this is perfectly adequate. Now if my girls were to develop problems, I would go first to DE rather than Sevin or other systemic toxin. For me, the research did not support using DE routinely.

 

[gjoyner]

than what do you use for you deep litter method?

 

[edselpdx]

Pine shavings and a poop board.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote:
Well, then they sure have a lot of satisfied customers who are experienced chicken raisers on this board fooled!

Yep. LOL!
Lots of folks SAY it works, but I dont use it and I dont have problems with my chickens either

I've looked HARD for SCIENTIFIC studies that show it works for internal parasites, but they just dont exist

The only PROVEN use is as an insecticide when used in a DRY form