DE for dust bath or not

[Bluerosesd]

ok I have seen some conflicting advice on food grade DE for chickens. I am new to having chicks and I have my babies in a new run. They were trying their best to dust bath in regular dirt and it wasn’t working. I want to make them a place to bath and have seen some say to use DE and play sand and ashes.

 

[aart]

I have seen some conflicting advice on food grade DE for chickens

Your'e going to get conflicting opinions here too.
I say, no.

They were trying their best to dust bath in regular dirt and it wasn’t working.

What do you mean it wasn't 'working'?

My birds dig nice holes in dryish places and dust bathe just fine.
I still check them regularly for external parasites and treat with permethrin if needed.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

I'm in the same camp as @aart , I throw down ash from our pellet stove down in the dirt where they like to bathe... its been ecstasy for them lately, with winter being over. LOL. I won't use DE, as I'm asthmatic. I know its harmful for the lungs and they say to wear a mask, so... if I would have to wear a mask while scooping it, why would I want my girls to roll around in it and kick it up? If its bad for my lungs, wouldn't it be bad for theirs?

Just my opinion....

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Photos of your run?

If it's a new run, does it still have grass? That won't last too long with chickens, but if these are very young chicks, they may be having a hard time scratching up some loose dirt, so give them a helping hand 1-2 shovel turn over of dirt should be sufficient, break up the dirt a little and let them at it.

I also use ash from the wood stove, I rake it into the loose dirt in my runs. My girls seem to love it. As for DE, I'm in the "no use" camp.

Good luck!

 

[aart]

I am new to having chicks and I have my babies in a new run. They were trying their best to dust bath in regular dirt and it wasn’t working. I want to make them a place to bath

Sorry, I missed that part.
I would take a shovel and dig a hole.
If it's grass, knock all the dirt off the grass roots and toss the grass aside.
If your soil is clay add some sand to hole and mix it up.
Hole doesn't need to be deep, maybe 4-6" just bust up the soil a bit for them.

I won't use DE, as I'm asthmatic.

Wouldn't breathing ash be almost as bad?

 

[tigger19687]

I just got a big pan, 3'x2' that I will fill with loose dirt and some wood ash, maybe some DE in it too but not much at all.
Mine are digging next to a cinder block and I am afraid it will fall over on one of them while they are laying there

 

[Kiki]

I say not.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

Sorry, I missed that part.
I would take a shovel and dig a hole.
If it's grass, knock all the dirt off the grass roots and toss the grass aside.
If your soil is clay add some sand to hole and mix it up.
Hole doesn't need to be deep, maybe 4-6" just bust up the soil a bit for them.


Wouldn't breathing ash be almost as bad?

Yes, it would... but that's why my husband does it mostly. Its a lot less bad for me... but still bad for me.

 

[aart]

Mine are digging next to a cinder block and I am afraid it will fall over on one of them while they are laying there

OhMan IKR??!!
I just had to shove a brick under one to keep it from going over.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/excavation-by-birds-a-word-of-warning.1086535/

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I'm gonna go with a big fat NO.

I hate the strip mined, over rated health hazard and consider the risk to outweigh the benefit.

IF people who used it never ended up having to treat, MAYBE. But they do. Even if it's supposed to be "natural"... so is lead and arsenic. So not on my watch or at my house.

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2016/12/the-cut-dry-truth-about-diatomaceous/

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/05/diatomaceous-earth-de-benefitrisk/

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2015/05/raising-chickens-naturally-diatomaceous/

My birds carry so much dirt away with them there is a chasm next to my house that I have to refill. I see a huge cloud when they shake out and during bathing sometimes the dirt cloud looks like there might be a fire somewhere.

My birds bathe in regular dirt. That's it. We catch stuff from the environment and treat AS NEEDED. Too many people just assume they are good since they use DE... It's partly relative to YOUR environment. I now live in the Pacific Northwest where wildlife abounds and so do their pests. Much different than living in the So Cal desert. Turning over a shovel full for them to mess around in does wonders.