Diatomaceous earth and health

[eduardo domingu]

To prevent the hens eating a lot of DE you provide it in a container alone. The animals eat the mineral they need, is a selective ingestion as when you prefer salad or sweet, is a intrinsic behaviour we cant understand. DE is abrasive on worms surface although wet. DE hurt this surface and bacterias make the final work.

 

[Akrnaf2]

[COLOR=333333]To prevent the hens eating a lot of DE you provide it in a container alone. The animals eat the mineral they need, is a selective ingestion as when you prefer salad or sweet, is a intrinsic behaviour we cant understand. DE is abrasive on worms surface although wet. DE hurt this surface and bacterias make the final work.[/COLOR]

Do you have any articles or academic research that soport your claimes? I will be very hapy to read them!

 

[eduardo domingu]

From personal experience, it has helped get rid on infestations of different pests when used in conjunction to deep cleaning the coop, and dusting the birds, it is extremely caustic, and if you breath it in, you'll be coughing for weeks, ( again, known from experience) chickens like to dust bathe in it. Not good if you have gardens nearby, as it kill insects. period. good or bad, DE will affect a population, including beneficial bees. Doesn't seem to help at all if you have an existing infestation of internal parasites, but seems to work well as a preventative when used in conjunctions with garlic, ACV, and pumkin... of course, it could just be that these other products work, but it can't hurt to add it too.

Not good to feed to animals in large doses, as it's harsh on the body's intestinal lining, and sensitive organs. ( got to remember, it is crushed up shells, it's SHARP)

this is all from my research, and personal exp when I had mites and termites in my coop.

http://inta.gob.ar/documentos/pesti...ile/INTA_agricultura20_apicola_pesticidas.pdf
DE clasiffied as non toxic to bees, ta channnnn

 

[Blooie]

Been my experience in 64 years on this planet that no matter which side of a debate I am on, I can always find a study, research paper, magazine article or some other "expert" information to validate my claims, no matter which side of the issue I take. So I put about 0.0 faith in "studies", especially when they contradict each other so strongly. With the internet, suddenly everyone's an "expert" - all that's needed is a keyboard and a following.

Personally I stopped using DE. Once upon a time I thought it was the best thing ever for my chicken coop and run. Just put it in the litter and the dust bath and forget it. Forever totally parasite free chickens with no work on my part. How could that be bad? But you know, if I have to wear a bandanna over my face to use the stuff so I don't breathe it in, why am I letting my chickens dust bathe in it, kicking up dust that their much smaller respiratory systems have to cope with? And why am I putting it on the floor of my coop where my chickens scratch, kicking up more dust? And why am I using it with my deep litter if it kills small soft bodied insects, when I need those insects to help break down the litter? I never did feed it to my chickens. Something that gets ground up in the gizzard can't be much help against internal parasites - especially since the chickens couldn't possibly ingest enough to get that job done.

Those folks who use it and swear by it, that's fine for them. I don't, and that's fine for me.

 

[dawg53]

Dont believe websites/salesmen that claim DE is the greatest treatment/cure all in the world. All they are interested in is your money. Take it from someone who knows. You'll learn, eventually.

 

[saltandpepper2]

 Dont believe websites/salesmen that claim DE is the greatest treatment/cure all in the world. All they are interested in is your money. Take it from someone who knows. You'll learn, eventually.

I don't think it's a cure all, or that it gets rid of pests by itself, but I did notice a noted decline in my pest issue after I started to use it.