DE does not prevent worms.
It isn't even used for bugs in feed.. it's used and approved as anti caking agent at a rate of up to 2%.
Hi there, hope you are enjoying BYC!
My husband grew up on a working farm where they had literally hundreds of chickens - plus cattle and pigs, etc. So, 12 seems very small lol. I'm also new here, so I'm learning. We live right in the middle of the US in Oklahoma. Humidity is pretty high most of the time. We basically have 2 seasons here - very hot and very cold. We bought DE to do dusting on the chickens, but we've also been told by several different people that if you feed it to them, it's helpful for internal parasites. When we did some research, we found it's also recommended for that purpose on a lot of websites for a lot of different animals. I assumed at least it wouldn't hurt them chickens because so many people recommended it. So far, none of our chicks have showed any signs of any worms, so I didn't ask the question because I'm scared of anything immediate. They all seem very healthy and sassy. I love that they're only a few weeks old, but they're already so responsive to everything we do. We scrub out their coop once a week, and we refresh it in between. I clean out their food and water several times a day. The only thing we're worried about right now is that we have them in a small coop and run while they're small, and we're building them their big one. We lost a week of building time because of thunderstorms, and they grow a lot in a week it seems. We're hurrying now, but currently they're somewhat overcrowded in their starter coop. How likely is it that they will suffer from their crowded conditions if they have to stay in them for another week? Thank you very much for your reply btw!It isn't even used for bugs in feed.. it's used and approved as anti caking agent at a rate of up to 2%.
Hi there, hope you are enjoying BYC!
DE, not welcome here EVER.. and it doesn't work in wet environments like inside the intestines.. it does not prevent nor will it have ANY impact on internal parasite load.. studies which SHOW the DE is ineffective as a worming agent under the agriculture bullet...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth
Just a fun fact sheet..
http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/degen.html
Please note that you cannot prevent what you may not have. Some feeds even already have DE on the ingredient list.
DE states on the bag that it does not work when wet.. like inside the intestines is.
Best way to "prevent" intestinal parasites.. good nutrition, good waste management, not over crowding, don't invite wild birds or animals to your yard by hanging feeders for them.
After all that.. IF your see SYMPTOMS get a fecal float and species load count.. or do them a couple times per year in different seasons and see where YOUR parasite load stands in order to come up with a treatment or prevention schedule that's appropriate to YOUR flock.
Despite seeing yellow frothy poo, muddy bumm and other symptoms many will SWEAR is worms.. a fecal float done by my vet showed NO need treat.. so far in 10+ years of keeping chickens I have YET to need to treat for worms.. at MY location with my weather pattern and my stock density.
Noting I am on the coast where humidity is high ALL the time.. DE is also completely ineffective against external parasites in my location. Adding your general location to your profile can help folks make their best suggestions possible at a glance.
PLEASE.. if you DO choose to use DE as a worming agent.. get before and after fecal floats and report your results to us.. help find the whole truth instead of perpetuating false senses of security.. and tag me so I can see too.
One final note since you're asking about worms.. the ONLY worms that will EVER be seen in dropping are large round worms and tape worms.. all others will stay inside the intestines and only their microscopic oocysts (eggs) mill pass, never to be seen by the naked eye..
Kinda funny that you call 12 a "small" flock! You MUST be a chicken person.
Short term crowding in chicks won't cause worms as those will come from an outside source. As long as there isn't any feather picking antics and you can keep the water clean from poo (which is a major source of coccidiosis in chicks).. then you will be okay while you finish up their new space.
Please reconsider your choice.. my friend uses DE in our humid location and it will NOT help an in infestation plus it's a drying agent.. chickens don't need micro cuts to their skin that MIGHT help kill some exoskeleton bugs via dehydration by tiny scratches... My thought anyways.. I think it does hurt.. my pocket book and then environment it's being mined from.. if it's not actually benefiting my flock. One more link (or more)..
A lot of people say or do a lot of things for a lot of reasons.. And all of them have their very own set of circumstances including weather, genetics, wild life load, etc. Do any of them actually provide clinical evidence their claims work.. other than "not seeing any signs"? Please understand that mean ZERO rudeness here.. and even after 10+ years raising chickens learn something new almost every single day!
Short term crowding in chicks won't cause worms as those will come from an outside source. As long as there isn't any feather picking antics and you can keep the water clean from poo (which is a major source of coccidiosis in chicks).. then you will be okay while you finish up their new space.
Please reconsider your choice.. my friend uses DE in our humid location and it will NOT help an in infestation plus it's a drying agent.. chickens don't need micro cuts to their skin that MIGHT help kill some exoskeleton bugs via dehydration by tiny scratches... My thought anyways.. I think it does hurt.. my pocket book and then environment it's being mined from.. if it's not actually benefiting my flock. One more link (or more)..
I've seen the cloud from dirt bathing.. pass on adding DE, food grade or not to my air..
https://the-chicken-chick.com/the-cut-dry-truth-about-diatomaceous/
https://the-chicken-chick.com/diatomaceous-earth-de-benefitrisk/
A lot of people say or do a lot of things for a lot of reasons.. And all of them have their very own set of circumstances including weather, genetics, wild life load, etc. Do any of them actually provide clinical evidence their claims work.. other than "not seeing any signs"? Please understand that mean ZERO rudeness here.. and even after 10+ years raising chickens learn something new almost every single day!
Thank you for the reply. We're still learning about everything, and we're weighing every bit of evidence we can before we make any decisions concerning anything where the chicks are concerned. I want as much info as I can get to make the best decisions I can, so I don't think it's rude to try to pass on the info that brought you to your best decision. We've only seen 2 stray feathers so far, so I don't think there's any feather plucking. I check on them many times throughout the day to clean out their food and water. We have a Lavender Orpington that's a bit younger than the rest of the chicks by a week or so, and she doesn't have a feather one on her butt. We saw a couple of little sore spots on her little bum, so I thought the others may be picking on her. When I sat and watched them, however, I noticed that SHE was picking at her own little butt. We put a little Blu-Kote on the sore spots (a little on her and a bunch on us lol) because whenever one of the other chicks would so much as brush up against her bare butt, she would squawk and run away like she was terrified they were going to peck her. I figured she may be in a bit of pain. I don't know if this is because of the temporary overcrowding or not. When we got her and the BLRW, we didn't like how they were behaving so we quarantined them. They seemed very hot to the touch and not very active at all. Now, the Lavender only wants to be with the BLRW. She's not mixing well. That may be the cause of her behavior rather than the overcrowding. Either way, now that the weather has cleared, they're getting out into their movable run every day all day, so they're only overcrowded when the sun sets. At that point, they all just get on their roost and sleep.Short term crowding in chicks won't cause worms as those will come from an outside source. As long as there isn't any feather picking antics and you can keep the water clean from poo (which is a major source of coccidiosis in chicks).. then you will be okay while you finish up their new space.
Please reconsider your choice.. my friend uses DE in our humid location and it will NOT help an in infestation plus it's a drying agent.. chickens don't need micro cuts to their skin that MIGHT help kill some exoskeleton bugs via dehydration by tiny scratches... My thought anyways.. I think it does hurt.. my pocket book and then environment it's being mined from.. if it's not actually benefiting my flock. One more link (or more)..
I've seen the cloud from dirt bathing.. pass on adding DE, food grade or not to my air..
https://the-chicken-chick.com/the-cut-dry-truth-about-diatomaceous/
https://the-chicken-chick.com/diatomaceous-earth-de-benefitrisk/
A lot of people say or do a lot of things for a lot of reasons.. And all of them have their very own set of circumstances including weather, genetics, wild life load, etc. Do any of them actually provide clinical evidence their claims work.. other than "not seeing any signs"? Please understand that mean ZERO rudeness here.. and even after 10+ years raising chickens learn something new almost every single day!
That girl does sound a little sore, as described in the rest of your post.
Gimme a sec - getting pics nowThat girl does sound a little sore, as described in the rest of your post.
Sometimes, genetics does make a difference and Lavender is one of them.. I have one lav Wyandotte chick with no feathers on his back yet, despite no parasite or picking type issues..
Sounds like they are in good hands, and you'll get it all figured out..
IDK, I just FEEL like I NEED to see a photo of the two new buddies together!
NEED.. not exaggerated, I could use the lift.
