DE on chickens?

[Blooie]

Right back! I love hugs!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Correction: DE will and does kill poultry mites and all other exoskeleton type insects, both internal as well as external. It's safer than using Permethrins (a synthetic neurotoxin) or Sevin dusts (another neurotoxin). DE is mechanical rather than chemical. The only way it is not effective is if there are no exoskeletons present

On the contrary, it has little effect on the exoskeleton. If it has any effect on invertebrates, it would be on the soft bodied ones, thereby causing desiccation. That's why gardeners have long recommended it for slugs, because they have no exoskeleton. More effective on slugs is a pan of beer. They'll find it at night and drown.

 

[Bamas-Chicks]

Go to Npic.orst.edu/factsheet. It's a scientific research done by Oregon state University that says DE does and will kill mites as well as prevent them along with worms if taken internally.

 

[Bamas-Chicks]

I'm not saying it's the perfect thing for every situation and it's not the end all be all to anything,but in some instances and situations it does work. In others you need to do your research and find the perfect fix for.

 

[aart]

Npic.orst.edu/factsheet

That URL is not valid.

 

[MomJones]

I also want to say that before we realized we even had a mite problem, we nearly lost the rooster to them! We noticed he was dust-bathing more than usual, and then it seemed he was doing almost nothing else. Then he would just lay chest-down on patches of cool grass and I became really concerned. When I picked him up I saw that his breast and belly were red and hot, and then I noticed that he was practically crawling with little insects. I hosed him off to cool him down, which seemed to give him some relief, then dried him off the best I could. We powdered him with DE under his wings, on his neck and back, and he seemed to feel better. That night we DE'd him thoroughly along with the hens as described above and continued to keep an eye on him. He did great after that.

It really is amazing stuff. And non-toxic!

 

[Bamas-Chicks]

It really is amazing stuff. And non-toxic!

I agree,I've had nothing but good results with DE

 

[Blooie]

Go to Npic.orst.edu/factsheet. It's a scientific research done by Oregon state University that says DE does and will kill mites as well as prevent them along with worms if taken internally.

I know DE is always a contentious topic. It’s one of those things people either swear by, or swear at. I’ve been in both camps and made the call to retire my bandana. And that’s precisely why, when I do let myself get drawn into these debates, I don’t just post a study, often sponsored behind the scenes by the manufacturers. Instead I try to explain it in a logical way using plain old common sense and experience.

Let me make clear that I did not say, nor would I, that direct contact with DE could not kill mites. But my friend @ChickenCanoe is correct. It’s effective against soft-bodied insects, which is why I even had it around here in the first place, long before I even got my first chicks. I used it to dust my roses for aphids, and it was very effective. But using a small amount in a very restricted area (like on 3 rose bushes), is far different than filling an entire environment with it. I was happy when I put my chicks outdoors to live, after having read all of the glowing reviews using of DE in the coop and on the chickens. Here, at last, was something I already had and didn’t have to buy in addition to all the other money I’d spent on chickens! Yayyyy! And I used it right up until the light bulb went on and I realized that I was wearing a bandanna to spread it! I put the bag away at that point, not realizing until I brought in the next day’s eggs and found mites crawling on them that I had been risking my health and the lungs of my chickens for nothing. So mites still happen!

As far as efficacy against internal parasites, I would respectfully say....um....let me rephrase the thought that just ran through my head. I’m going to try to explain why I think that’s just a bad idea, most especially in human beings and pets, regardless of studies. In fact. I’ll focus on human use, because the rest of the animal kingdom is pretty much the same as far as the digestive process goes.

We’ve discussed that DE works by piercing soft tissue. And we’ve established that it’s ineffective when wet, which is printed right on the bag, along with the inhalation warning. By the way, that warning is there not only because of the mechanical irritation as with any dust, but because DE dust with its particularly sharp edges of diatoms, inhaled can also pierce the little air sacs in the lungs. So if it’s taken orally in it’s dry form (which I can’t even imagine doing), let’s take that information and think about what it could also do to the soft tissues in the mouth and the esophagus as it travels down. Remember, it’s just been ingested at that point so it hasn’t yet been subjected to the wetness of the saliva, stomach and on down. Still with me?

There are only two ways to “take” it, either dry or wet. We’re still on dry ingestion. Okay, it’s been chewed and mixed with wet saliva, swallowed, gone into the wet, acidic stomach, and is no longer effective, according to its own manufacturer’s information. I know it’s sometimes sprinkled on food. I can’t even imagine eating it in it’s dry form, so let’s now assume that it’s put into a beverage for palatability and taken that way. Guess what? Then it’s wet before it starts the journey into the body and has already lost its effectiveness. Explain to me what possible effect it could possibly have on soft parasites by that time. Don’t quote me a study, just use common sense and think about it.

It doesn’t matter what mammal or bird it’s being fed to. All of the basics I’ve outlined remain pretty much the same....the broken glass-like surface of the diatoms when dry and the lack of efficacy when wet. As far as I can see, the only winners here are the manufacturers and marketers of DE. In fact, I’ll go one step further onto that shaky limb and come right out with it....the marketing strategy employed by the makers of DE, hitting just when the backyard chickens movement was in it’s infancy, was probably one of the most effective sales campaigns ever.

I just don’t know what else I can say that I haven’t already tried as courteously and completely as I know how to do. So now, with my apologies to the OP, @Mayochick61 for trainwrecking the thread, I’ll refrain from further comment, and thank everyone for being able to discuss such a potentially inflammatory topic with courtesy!

 

[Taj_MaChicken]

I get your point, but in my case it would be DE, hands down. I try to avoid chemicals whenever I can. I spread DE around the perimeter of my basement several years ago when our area had infestations of all kinds of creepy-crawlies, and we have not had a problem since. I do, however, forbid the children to kill any rabid wolf spiders they may see, as they're the best defense against brown recluse and black widows. And before you ask, no, I don't want a rabid wolf spider in my hair, thanks!

Funny story, I typically don't kill spiders in my house because I know they eat the other creepy crawly things in the house... one night I went to plug something in and voila

Also, I want to follow and see where this thread goes...

 

[BigBlueHen53]

That's an ugly spider, @Taj_MaChicken ... was it a brown recluse, and didja kill it?