DE mixed w/feed

[JodyJo]

I may sound stupid, I keep seeing this posted here, do I need to worry if I live in a dry high desert? Should I be adding this to any feed or bedding? We don't have bugs in the feed or anything...
Thx!

 

[ginger67]

Where do you buy food grade DE?

 

[mcjweb]

I bought it at tractor supply

 

[CarolynF]

Quote:
Hey stcroixusvi,
Excellent! Excellent! Thanks so much for adding that one. I did a search and found it at this link .
For those interested, the opening paragraph in its entirety is quoted here...

The effectiveness of diatomaceous earth (DE) as a treatment against parasites and to increase feed efficiency and egg production of organically raised free-range layer hens was evaluated in 2 breeds of commercial egg layers [Bovan Brown (BB) and Lowmann Brown (LB)] that differ in their resistance to internal parasitic infections. Half the hens of each breed were fed diets supplemented with DE (2%). Their internal parasite loads were assessed by biweekly fecal egg counts (FEC) and by postmortem examination of the gastrointestinal tract. Supplementing DE in diets of LB hens, the more parasite-resistant breed, did not significantly affect their FEC and adult parasite load. However, BB hens treated with dietary DE had significantly lower Capillaria FEC, slightly lower Eimeria FEC, fewer birds infected with Heterakis, and significantly lower Heterakis worm burden than control BB hens. Both BB and LB hens fed the diet containing DE were significantly heavier, laid more eggs, and consumed more feed than hens fed the control diet, but feed efficiency did not differ between the 2 dietary treatments. Additionally, BB hens consuming the DE diet laid larger eggs containing more albumen and yolk than hens consuming the control diet. In a subsequent experiment, the effectiveness of DE to treat a Northern fowl mite (Ornithonyssus sylviarum) infestation was tested. Relative to controls, both breeds of hens that were dusted with DE had reduced number of mites. The results of this study indicate the DE has the potential to be an effective treatment to help control parasites and improve production of organically raised, free-range layer hens.

Here's an earlier one from 2009

Effect of diatomaceous earth on internal parasites of freerange, organic laying hens.
D. C. Bennett*, Y.-J. Rhee, A. Yee, and K.M. Cheng, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
The abstract is presented on page 81 of the 98th Annual Meeting of the Poultry Science Association, July 2009.
link here: http://www.poultryscience.org/psa09/abstracts.pdf

In it they state, "DE had no effect
on the number of hens infected, FEC, or worm burdens. However, body
mass and egg production were greater in hens consuming the DE diets.
These hens also laid larger eggs with thicker shells. The results of this
study suggest that there is no evidence that DE is an effective treatment
to control gastrointestinal parasitic infections of free-range laying hens.
However, DE as a feed ingredient may maintain body mass, increase
egg production and improve egg quality in free range laying hens fed
an organic diet."

And this one gives the complete chemical analysis on page 2, for anyone that's interested.

[edited to add]

Here is another study showing 6% DE improves bone strength in cockerels. It includes a table showing the chemical 18 chemical components in DE.

Obviously research IS being done and it's showing there IS good reason to feed DE to our birds!

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[ChestnutRidge]

Quote:
I wasn't stating an opinion; I don't think I have enough info to decide one way or another. I was just posting the few articles I found and hoping that others were doing the same so that we can all read them and draw our own conclusions rather than everyone stating unsubstantiated opinions one way or the other. I posted the piglet article because it related to the claims made by one of the DE supporter's websites that I had quoted above.

 

[Chick Norris]

I must have missed something. I didn't think there were any opinions expressed at all. There was an abstract and a title of another paper. I fully read the first but couldn't get access to the second. I thought they were posted so we could post our thoughts about them. As a scientist, I merely raised my concerns as to the relevance of these papers and tried to clarify some of the somewhat misleading statements made by the authors.
Quote:
I wasn't stating an opinion; I don't think I have enough info to decide one way or another. I was just posting the few articles I found and hoping that others were doing the same so that we can all read them and draw our own conclusions rather than everyone stating unsubstantiated opinions one way or the other. I posted the piglet article because it related to the claims made by one of the DE supporter's websites that I had quoted above.

 

[ChestnutRidge]

Quote:
Okay, I misread you. Sometimes it's hard to understand tone in print. Thank you for clarifying.

 

[Chick Norris]

No problem. That's the crappy thing with text - you just can't convey tone at all. I think you did a great thing by digging up these papers for everyone. I really just wanted to clarify a bit of the first paper. Scientists are salesman, so they sometimes use manipulative language to make results appear to be more significant than they really are. I felt that this first abstract was pretty misleading, especially after reading the entire paper.

Oh...and sorry if I kinda hijacked this thread.

Quote:
Okay, I misread you. Sometimes it's hard to understand tone in print. Thank you for clarifying.

 

[OHhappychicks]

Quote:
Okay, I misread you. Sometimes it's hard to understand tone in print. Thank you for clarifying.

You're forgiven!

It's interesting reading all the info!

 

[DOnSoCalOC]

I use soy-free organic feed that contains DE in it. I also purchased a 50# bag and I dust the coop and ground as I move the run and coop around. I dust my peeps every now and then with it also. I started this when I saw a flea on 2 of the girls. Now, no fleas or mites noticed.

We started to use some of it for human consumption, but not enough and on a consistent basis to notice any health benefits.