Diatomaceous earth--- Really that harmless?????

[95yj]

Quote:
not on the microscopic level, i believe that its function as a de-wormer works because the tiny pieces of the super sharp diatoms are individualy suspended in the digestive system of the animal, when a worm encounters and eats one of the particles the diatom rips the interior of the worm to shreds, thus killing the worm. the particles are too small to pose a danger to anything larger than a macro-invertabrate.

I also believe that there are several types of food grade, one for actual injestion and another for use on vegetables plants. I'm really not sure where i hear this, i may have actually just made it up...

 

[Country Parson]

I've been watching this thread, and others, about DE. I've read several unfortunate stories about local feed stores reaction to BYC folks trying to find/buy DE. Just thought I would share a very positive experience. I just picked up some DE from my local feed store, and they were very supportive, encouraging, and knowledgeable about DE. Most of the workers have personally used it. I picked up two pounds (quite a lot, btw) and can't wait to use it.

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
not on the microscopic level, i believe that its function as a de-wormer works because the tiny pieces of the super sharp diatoms are individualy suspended in the digestive system of the animal, when a worm encounters and eats one of the particles the diatom rips the interior of the worm to shreds, thus killing the worm. the particles are too small to pose a danger to anything larger than a macro-invertabrate.

I also believe that there are several types of food grade, one for actual injestion and another for use on vegetables plants. I'm really not sure where i hear this, i may have actually just made it up...

DE is a drying agent. It'll keep feed dry and helps keep your coop dry until it gets wet. It might help prevent lice/mites. I can assure you that it wont kill worms.

 

[chickbird]

Quote:
not on the microscopic level, i believe that its function as a de-wormer works because the tiny pieces of the super sharp diatoms are individualy suspended in the digestive system of the animal, when a worm encounters and eats one of the particles the diatom rips the interior of the worm to shreds, thus killing the worm. the particles are too small to pose a danger to anything larger than a macro-invertabrate.

I also believe that there are several types of food grade, one for actual injestion and another for use on vegetables plants. I'm really not sure where i hear this, i may have actually just made it up...

once it becomes wet in the chickens gut it is no loner sharp and it will not kill worms. de absorbs moisture when used in chicken houses and can actually cause a mold.

 

[cabrita]

HELP!!!
I am worried sick. So I am a new chicken mom- 2 barred rocks and 2 buff orpingtons a week ago, they were only a day old when I got them.
Yesterday, I started noticing weird discoloration on one. Her wings are darker, and upon closer inspection I noticed a pattern almost like mold; dark and spotty. The area around her vent looks normal, and her feet are okay but her feathers are obviously not. None of the other chicks show any symptoms. I am so worried, I feel like such a bad chicken mom!
Is it lice? Would Diatomaceous earth get rid of the problem?
I am dying for some advice!
Thanks.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

It might be because they are growing in new feathers. Their new feathers will start coming in the color that they will be as adults, so some of your chicks will have black in the feathers. Barred rocks have a black and white pattern to the feathers. The first place I notice new feathers in chicks is the wings and yours are at that age.

New feathers growing in are called pin or blood feathers. They are inside a long straight tube. The feather also has a blood supply in the shaft. When it first pops through the skin, it's just a little thing poking up. Then it gets longer and longer. The tube it's enclosed in breaks open, starting from the tip and the feather starts to unfurl as it grows. The tube breaking apart creates dust and dandruff looking chunks. As the feather stops growing at the tip, the blood supply recedes back towards the body. Inside a white feather shaft, the blood supply looks dark. When it recedes, the shaft looks white.

Chicks go through a lot of changes and they mature at a really fast rate, compared to puppies, kittens or human babies. In just a few days, they can look different. That was one of the things that took me by surprise, the first time I raised them. They get bigger really fast, too.

 

[IDAMAN]

California is banning the use of D.E. because it is a carcinogen which is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes.

Wide use of the term nanotechnology in recent years has created the misapprehension that regulatory frameworks are suddenly having to contend with entirely new challenges that they are unequipped to deal with. Many regulatory systems around the world already assess new substances or products for safety on a case by case basis, before they are permitted on the market.These regulatory systems have been assessing the safety of nanometre scale molecular arrangements for many years and many substances comprising nanometre scale particles have been in use for decades e.g. Carbon black, Titanium dioxide, Zinc oxide, Bentonite, Aluminum silicate, Iron oxides, Silicon dioxide, Diatomaceous earth, Kaolin, Talc, Montmorillonite, Magnesium oxide, Copper sulphate.


View this website for more info: http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/content/full/158/3/807

I use Pet fresh

 

[ivan3]

IDAMAN wrote: California is banning the use of D.E. because it is a carcinogen which is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes.

The article in the link provided was a study concerning the effects of CALCINED DE (heat treated/melts and forms what amounts to tiny `shards of glass'), i.e., CRYSTALLINE SILICA (`radiographs' chest x-rays looking for opacities from long term exposure to crystalline silica).
Please provide link to California's outlawing of AMORPHOUS DIATOMACEOUS EARTH.

Workers in this study were employed in one diatomaceous earth mining and processing facility in Lompoc, California; operations at the facility included extraction of the mineral from open-pit mines, crushing of the ore, and heating of the crushed ore at high temperatures (calcination). When extracted, the mineral exists primarily as amorphous (noncrystalline) silica; after heating, the product typically consists of 10 to 60% crystalline silica, primarily in the form of cristobalite.

The percentages of respirable dust estimated to be crystalline silica for jobs involving exposures to natural, calcined, and flux-calcined diatomite were 3%, 20% and 60%, respectively. If the exposure was to a mix of these diatomite types, a weighted percentage corresponding to the estimated mix was used.

Amorphous Diatomaceous Earth contains <1% crystalline silica. It does NOT kill insects by cutting/tearing (it ADSORBS the waxy outer lipid layer of the insects exoskeleton). If ground even finer (more surface area) it will work even faster (some companies are doing just this and charging a premium). Both the FDA and EPA consider it GRAS (Generally Regarded As SAFE).

It is ineffective as a wormer (nothing sharp to speak of and once it absorbs x4wt. in water its desiccant property is lost). It has been tried as a dietary supplement in broilers (trying to replace antibiotic growth promoters with probiotics/etc.) and was found to interfere with nutrient uptake.

Will consolidate posts in the links below into one post (links to above info and more):

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=294680&p=2 (post #20) https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=295586&p=2 (posts #'s 11/20/22).

Only safe way to use Crystalline Silica for insect control in house or coop:

 

[Pele]

I would hardly take the word of a store clerk on carcinogens, but that's just me. Even if you were to get non-food grade DE, it would take years of high level exposure to become a problem to your lungs.

The carcinogen warnings are for industrial uses where people handle it all day long. Yes they do need to wear protective equipment to handle it, but that's because that's all they do all day every day. Dusting your coop with food grade DE isn't going to strike you dead like you angered some kind of chicken god or something.

Just wear a mask over your nose and mouth, just like you were to do if you were painting. And dont make your kids do it if you worry about them.

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
Since your dusting your coop and your chickens will be exposed to it daily; they are closer to the ground and will be stirring it up by scratching through it...got masks for your chickens?