DE bath = quieter chicks?

[redhead83402]

Wow~ Thanks!! I hadn't expected such quick, informative & KIND answers!! You guys are the best!! This stuff sounds really good ~ think I'll definitely invest.
~Red

 

[Gindee77]

Wooohooo, I just found a local source of food grade DE. No shipping and they will meet me halfway to pick it up!! About 10-12 miles down the road from us!

 

[Meesh]

Good deal, glad you found some! A guy in town runs a feedstore - he is into alternative medicine and always mixing up his own magic linaments and feed recipes that are recommended by local vets (they are usually pretty good). He has all sorts of stuff on hand that you wouldn't expect to find, like food grade DE.

My aunt came to visit - my very fastidiously OCD clean aunt - and she said she couldn't smell the chickens when she was standing right over the brooder looking at them. That's a good test! I haven't cleaned it for 24 hours. I have been letting it go 2-3 days between changes.

DH gets sneezy if it gets too chicken-y.

Cheers,
Michelle

 

[Malbri]

Quote:
What feed store do you go to?

 

[Penske]

I have 14-3 day old chicks. I sifted some food grade DE on the bottom of the brooder and then added 1 inch or so of pine shavings. Then I topped that with paper towels. I change the paper towels in the morning and again at night (MAN! They poo ALOT!!). There is NO smell. Saturday AM I'll remove the papertowels. I hope I am doing this right...the chickies seem very happy and content!

Speckled Hen posted that the DE might make them sneeze and to be aware of that. I didn't stir it in or add more --no problems on my end.

ALSO, only use Food Grade DE--even if you are stirring it into your coop litter. Non-food grade is TOXIC. Freshwater Organics sells FOOD GRADE DE as well as My Pet Chicken. com and lots of other places. Perma-guard is a brand name.

Don't you just love this site???

Lisa

 

[tygab]

I have ordered some DE online after reading about it. I know it cost me for shipping but I'll have it on hand, and giving time to research locally (I'll be a little surprised if I can find it here, but we'll see). I got Food grade. Anyway, I am hoping to use it with three or four species of animals, so we'll see.

If anyone has recommendations for people use, let me know.

And yes, I learned about it here!

 

[tororider]

Google diamataceous earth. I think I read on several sites that they suggest taking a tablespoon a day in juice or some type of drink that you like. I have done it a couple times, no real taste, just kind of chalky. I haven't done it with enough consistency to say whether or not healthwise there was any difference.

 

[mangled]

We got the remnants of a 50 lb. bag with our chickens. I use it everywhere. They have found their old dusting spots from last year, and they all got a good dose of DE today. I sprinkle it periodically in the coop, and in the run.
I give our boxer about 3-4 tsp. a week (when I remember to put it in his goodie bowl of the day) and he has had clean fecals at the vet, so we love it.
I would say we have about 30 lbs. left. 50 lbs. of DE is a LOT of DE. Our local feed store will order it for us when we need more (in like, 5 years, LOL) I think with shipping, it'll be around $43.00.

Em

 

[Dawn419]

Quote:
I got my first bag of food grade DE the same way. I was tickled to find a dealer close to us a few months later. We ended up saving $44 on our second bag.

We give our Aussie a tablespoon full in her dinner, every night and I was adding a teaspoon full of food grade DE in yogurt and eating it daily. I plan on getting back on it again as I noticed after taking it daily, for several months, my "plumbing" was working really good and the monthly cramps weren't as bad...

The following link lists feeding amounts:

http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/defaq.html

Dawn

 

[tygab]

Thanks, that was a great link (wolf creek) with good usage info, and I am excited to start my DE experiment...

I am sure this will become an important part of our parasite control program. I am looking forward to trying it too, I figure I am a good guinea pig and curious to find out what it could help. The cramps thing would be a good start!