DE (food grade?) good or bad

[itstartedwith2]

Hi lately I have been hearing a lot of different things about DE and was wondering if anyone could help? I have heard lately that it can be bad for chickens? If not and it's ok to use what is it's purpose? Mites and lice? Also I think I read it's a dewormer? I'm trying to decide about biting it in my chickens dust bathing areas and possibly the coops? Also I have a variety of ages from newly hatched to 7 yrs so is it ok for all ages? Was thinking about the broody cages as well?
Thanks in advance sorry for all the questions want to make sure before I try new things with my flock

 

[Kalyka]

Hi lately I have been hearing a lot of different things about DE and was wondering if anyone could help? I have heard lately that it can be bad for chickens? If not and it's ok to use what is it's purpose? Mites and lice? Also I think I read it's a dewormer? I'm trying to decide about biting it in my chickens dust bathing areas and possibly the coops? Also I have a variety of ages from newly hatched to 7 yrs so is it ok for all ages? Was thinking about the broody cages as well?
Thanks in advance sorry for all the questions want to make sure before I try new things with my flock

Never heard of DE as a dewormer before. I don't think that would work, because the way DE works is that the dried insects in it basically both scratch and dry the mites/lice out. I've heard of people putting DE in their animals' food and water for internal parasites, but this makes no sense, because DE doesn't work once it is wet, it has to be dry to work. I believe that the people who say that DE doesn't work for them is because it was either wet, or got wet, or they didn't get aggressive enough with it.

The purpose of DE is to get rid of mites/lice, non-poisonously. DE is natural, but it can be bad for chickens (and humans) if they get it in their eyes/nose in large amounts, not because it's poisonous, but because if they breath it in in large amounts at a time, it could accumulate in their lungs. It will get out eventually, usually by gradually breathing it out.

I use DE in my nestboxes, coop, and dust-bathing areas all the time. Since their coop is right next to the woods, they get lice/mites occasionally, and when they do, you have to do more than just put it in their coop etc. What I do is I wait until night (when most mites that don't live on the chickens are out of their hard to reach cracks, and feeding, and the chickens are most easy to catch) and fill a plastic bin about a quarter full of DE, then I one by one grab the chickens and give them a DE bath, making sure to get it under all their feathers, especially around the places you've seen the mites/lice, or heard of where the like to be, i.e, most mites like around the vent, on the lower neck/chest/crop area, and on their upper legs.

You will need to do this for all the chickens once or twice a week for at least four weeks to make sure you got all of them. This, combined with putting a layer of DE in all the places they frequent, especially the place they sleep in, and dustbathe in.

This natural way of getting rid of the chickens' bugs usually works, however for some types of lice and mites it won't have an impact on, like depluming mites, which live inside of the feathers themselves. For that you would need either a de-liceing shampoo, and bathe the chickens with it, or maybe something more extreme, like Ivermectin shots.
As I was saying, sometimes DE just isn't enough, and sometimes you have to use something like Sevin dust, which is poisonous.

There is one thing I haven't answered, that is whether you can use it with chicks. That is very debatable, we once used it on several two day old chicks, and they were fine. We first took the hen and chicks out of the nestbox and put them in another nestbox that already had DE in it. We put about half an inch of DE in the bottom of the nestbox, and gave the hen a DE bath as described above, and while covering the chicks' nostrils and eyes, we poured a little DE over all of them, and rubbed it into their fluff.

Some people say that DE is toxic and that it is better to use Sevin dust to clear things up, (this is not true about it being toxic, I, mean, how could it, it's just the exoskeletons of long dead bugs) , but personally I would rather use a natural, non-toxic thing on my chicks (like DE).
However it is completely up to you whether you want to use it or not, this is just my opinion.

 

[itstartedwith2]

Thank you sooo much this really helped clear it up in my head!

 

[casportpony]

Save your money and buy:

• Mites and lice - 5% Sevin powder or poultry dust
• Worms - Safeguard or Valbazen

-Kathy

 

[RunamokRanch]

I just want to say de is for worming and outside bugs. also de is not a bug its a diatom which is a single cell organism that comes from the ocean. I would read up on it . Its also used to worm humans.

 

[dawg53]

I just want to say de is for worming and outside bugs. also de is not a bug its a diatom which is a single cell organism that comes from the ocean. I would read up on it . Its also used to worm humans.

I'll be easy on you about DE because you're fairly new. DE will not prevent nor treat worms, nor treat lice/mite infestations. Make sure you tell your doctor that DE treats worms in humans...he might learn something new.

 

[enola]

We are still waiting on some reliable research about using DE for worming anything.

Personally, I would not use anything on my animals that causes permanent lung damage when breathed in.

 

[RunamokRanch]

I think you need to read up. And a year is not new. I have researched it a lot actually. Safe to ingest orally not safe to breath

 

[enola]

So if you have done a lot of reading, you wouldn't mind posting some links to research?

 

[Kalyka]

Everyone, it would be unendingly helpful if you referred to the person you are talking to when you respond to a post.

I'll be easy on you about DE because you're fairly new. DE will not prevent nor treat worms, nor treat lice/mite infestations. Make sure you tell your doctor that DE treats worms in humans...he might learn something new.

I might be new to this backyard chickens account, but we've had up to 50 (at one time, and since we got the chickens the number has never gone lower than 12, most of the time we have about 25) free-ranging chickens for almost 10 years, and have been on backyard chickens without an account for about four years. I

Since I'm assuming dawg53 was speaking to me, I'll just say these things:
First, I did not say that DE will affect worms at all, rather I tried to say the opposite, that it does not have any effect on them, second, I don't know what your experience has been, but mine has been that 4 out of the 6 times our chickens have had external parasites, DE has completely wiped them out, third, how, if it doesn't treat the chicken's worms, how can it treat human's?

I had no intention of starting an argument, I was trying to be helpful and answer the questions asked on this thread to the best of my ability by communicating my knowledge of the powder, my experience with it, and the way it is used.

I just want to say de is for worming and outside bugs. also de is not a bug its a diatom which is a single cell organism that comes from the ocean. I would read up on it . Its also used to worm humans.

Thanks for the correction, that's what I meant, but I was extremely tired at the time I wrote that and could not remember what they were called. I have read up on it, many times. I cannot remember the websites for more than a few weeks, and it's been about two months since the most recent time.

We are still waiting on some reliable research about using DE for worming anything.

Personally, I would not use anything on my animals that causes permanent lung damage when breathed in.

It may damage the lungs, but Sevin dust would damage them more, because it would be poisonous dust. In their lungs.

I think you need to read up. And a year is not new. I have researched it a lot actually. Safe to ingest orally not safe to breath

Who are you talking to? Where did someone say a year? Just wondering.