De

[rockstar]

I have plenty of DE. I'm not sure what all the uses are for my chickens or the best way to use it. When I last cleaned out the chicken house and put in new bedding, I threw it in with the bedding and mixed it in with a rake. I have straw in the nesting boxes and sprinkled DE in those. Do I need to use it in any other ways?

Also, I saw that someone doesn't want their chickens eating roaches. I have seen a couple of roaches around the pen. How do I get rid of them if I need to?

 

[mypicklebird]

There are gobs of threads about the pros and cons of DE as well as the differences between pool grade and food grade. Try searching the site for some of the threads.

If you have chickens on dirt, they will have access to insects- not much you can do about it. Insects are high protein snacks for chickens. Only down side is that they can carry parasites- but so can beetles, flies, worms ect- also something they like to eat. Think about a worming plan if they are free range and eat bugs on a regular basis.

 

[threehorses]

I use permethrin dust, regular "poultry dust", around the barn and in the bedding for things like roaches, mites, etc. I've also used DE (food grade only) in the dirt, etc. (By the way, don't dust birds with it.) It's great in their dusting areas by the way if you know where they usually dust bathe.

With the roaches, etc, just consider as mypicklebird said - a routine worming plan. Personally I worm the first time with wazine, worm 4 weeks later with ivermectin or fenbendazole, and use that twice annually thereafter. I've been known to use DE in the dirt although I'm not doing so now. I previously fed the food grade DE in the feed, but I stopped as my worming plan seems to be fine without it. That's just how I do things here if that helps.

 

[rockstar]

Thanks for you input.