DE (Food Grade Fossil Shell Flour)

[jbowyer01]

I use SweetPDZ (it contains DE) and love it. It keeps the coop nice and dry which makes for easy cleanup. My chickens are healthy and I always use a mask for clean up. It has also made a huge difference in smell, and I really havent had a problem with flies (this coming year will be the first summer with chickens though so we will see).

 

[spookyevilone]

Quote:
If you have any experiences with it, would love to hear them! For the record you are confusing people here! It is regulated and has to have less than 3 "crystalline silica" to be food grade. All DE has silicon in it, usually around 70%! It is the crystalline silica that is hazardous. Please dont confuse the two. Little wonder some people are afraid to use it with misinformation such as you are putting forth here. Please limit responses to what you like/dislike about it. Not what you have heard or think you know.

I mentioned the regulation, and even went back and bolded it for you. The regulation itself is what's safe for consumption, not what's safe for breathing. .5% is not enough to rip you up inside. .01% over enough time is enough to give you silicosis. That can't be regulated as it's from exposure over time, not percent per dose.

My experience is the one I listed. An elderly relative, a lifelong farmer who had a sand floor on the bottom of chicken, turkey, and pheasant coops, liberally spread with farm lime and DE, who also used it in their gravel catbox, died of silicosis. DE was listed as the most likely culprit but since there was exposure to other silica items and dust, it wasn't conclusive. Watching them die from a progressive consumptive illness was enough to make me go nowhere near any of them. Relative never wore a mask.

Don't know if it was food grade DE or not, strongly suspect it wasn't. Doctor said it wouldn't matter, the length of exposure to it was what mattered. We also don't know if the sand was beach sand or quarry sand but suspect it was quarry, cat litter which was definitely quarry gravel, and that was the main source of crystalline silica dust. We were told the DE probably did the most damage, because it's a lighter particle and more easily inhaled.

Like I said - I avoid all items that have a likely exposure to crystalline silica dust. Sand, cat gravel, white flour, and DE.
-Spooky

 

[ssteiner]

I'm a big fan of DE. I have four girls and a small, rabbit hutch style coop. I sprinkle a little DE in there everytime I change out the wood shavings and it absolutely works wonders in keeping the interior dry. And it gets on the girls and in their feathers which helps kill mites and other critters. Finally, a little goes a LONG way, which in my book makes it very economical.

Scott

 

[spatcher]

Quote:
If you have any experiences with it, would love to hear them! For the record you are confusing people here! It is regulated and has to have less than 3 "crystalline silica" to be food grade. All DE has silicon in it, usually around 70%! It is the crystalline silica that is hazardous. Please dont confuse the two. Little wonder some people are afraid to use it with misinformation such as you are putting forth here. Please limit responses to what you like/dislike about it. Not what you have heard or think you know.

I mentioned the regulation, and even went back and bolded it for you. The regulation itself is what's safe for consumption, not what's safe for breathing. .5% is not enough to rip you up inside. .01% over enough time is enough to give you silicosis. That can't be regulated as it's from exposure over time, not percent per dose.

My experience is the one I listed. An elderly relative, a lifelong farmer who had a sand floor on the bottom of chicken, turkey, and pheasant coops, liberally spread with farm lime and DE, who also used it in their gravel catbox, died of silicosis. DE was listed as the most likely culprit but since there was exposure to other silica items and dust, it wasn't conclusive. Watching them die from a progressive consumptive illness was enough to make me go nowhere near any of them. Relative never wore a mask.

Don't know if it was food grade DE or not, strongly suspect it wasn't. Doctor said it wouldn't matter, the length of exposure to it was what mattered. We also don't know if the sand was beach sand or quarry sand but suspect it was quarry, cat litter which was definitely quarry gravel, and that was the main source of crystalline silica dust. We were told the DE probably did the most damage, because it's a lighter particle and more easily inhaled.

Like I said - I avoid all items that have a likely exposure to crystalline silica dust. Sand, cat gravel, white flour, and DE.
-Spooky

To use or not to use is up to the individual. In your original post the word "crystalline" does not appear. And again, Food Grade DE is regulated since it cannot be labeled as food grade unless it has less than 3% crystalline silica in it. ALL DE has silicon dioxide in it. (Food Grade has roughly 70% silicon dioxide in it and is relatively harmless. The DE (Food Grade) with the lowest amount of crystalline silica in it is PermaGuard with less than one half of one percent. Perma Guard held the original patent on Food Grade DE until it expired. PermaGuard is FDA approved for human consumption. I have not found that claim on any other brand of DE. PermaGuard also sells DE with insectide in it for gardens, lawns etc, so you have to be sure the PermaGuard you buy states "Fossil Shell Flour". As a side note, fossil shell flour was used as a baking flour substitute during WWII because of the baking flour shortage. A little trivia for ya there!

 

[jprinc44]

I have been using it for a couple of months now in the coop and in myself. It does seem to hold the odor down in the chicken and the guinea coop. I have sprinkled a little bit in the big can I keep their food in, but not enough, I am sure by the proportions they list. I have also applied it directly to the birds' feathers, and under their wings, hoping to offset the mites and parasites. I have also applied it directly to my outside beagles' coats for fleas. When I remember to, I will drink it daily, myself, and can attest to the fact that it does help to keep you "regular". LOL I have not used it in my own house as of yet, but have read that it can cause damage to vacuums, so am somewhat hesitant to try that. I do recommend the use of a mask, though as it does get a lot in the air, and do not have the birds in the coop when you use it either, as I can imagine the affect it would have on their little respiratory systems. HTH Janet

 

[spatcher]

Thats a new one for me. Hadnt heard about problems with vacuums. Clog the epi-filters?