DE

[EadieC2]

I am VERY new to raising chickens. What is DE and is it different from Python Dust? Or is it the same thing?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I think it is different.
DE is Diatomaceous Earth. It is a fine powder made from the skeletal remains of microscopic sea creatures called diatoms.

 

[EadieC2]

I think it is different.
DE is Diatomaceous Earth. It is a fine powder made from the skeletal remains of microscopic sea creatures called diatoms.

Thank you!!!!

 

[southernhusky]

Is DE dust safe to use in a brooder with very young chicks? I ask because I just put some in my brooder tub with pine pellets, was going to cover with paper towel but I wanted something absorbent in the bottom since its easier to keep layering paper towels throughout the day & completely clean the brooder each morning. Any issue there? I'm a first time chick momma and just started using a tub brooder. I got away with using my parrot incubator for the first 2 weeks with newly hatched chicks but now I want to put the egg turner back in there and hatch some ducks!

I love DE use it for my dogs, parrots, I even mix some in myself with coffee. It can cause dehydration(that is how it works entirely) so fresh water and lots of it is a must when using. Anyone who has ever had to spray off a kennel could really appreciate how it works in dog food and all over the kennel dog houses/floor. It comes out just like it goes in and flies will not flock to poop, I see almost no flies in my kennel and before I started using it the flies would flock to the kennel area. Used to have a problem with biting flies...was using a 2oz spray for "bed bugs" on their ears, worked great, had tea tree oil and some other stuff in it....At $5 a bottle it did not go very far. Now I just rub some DE dust on their ears. I've heard DE dust doesn't work after it gets wet, no idea if that really is true but I do spray off my kennel and so it gets washed away and I do re apply weekly.

It really has 1001 uses. I love it and it is the only thing I will use around my pets after having one of my huskies die from "pet safe" pesticide used sparingly on ant beds by my grandfather when he was keeping them and I was in the middle of a move. Two of my dogs got sick, one was better the next day, the other rapidly declined with kidney failure. It was deemed livestock and dog safe from lowes and maybe for most it was but apparently my dog was more sensitive.