Diatomaceous earth

[Eznet2u]

I have to warn you not to put down too much of it in the run. This is very bad for egg production as the chickens think they are
at a Ski lodge on vacation, and just keep looking for the Ski rental booth...

 

[G-Man]

 

[CluckCluck2]

I can vouch that it doen't kill earthworms (nightcrawlers)! They were all over the area where I put it outside the coop area!

 

[Sunflowergirl]

I had read elsewhere to wear a mask while dusting the DE. Do any of y'all use a mask when working with DE?

 

[yellowirenut]

this is put on all items that may be inhaled. Its a very powdery substance.

i just picked up some wood sheeting from Lowe's. there where warning stickers on those. This item may produce wood dust. A substance known to cause cancer by the state of California. Fricken wood dust....

What i am saying is...use your best judgment. If you are going to spend most the day in a cloud of dust then maybe a mask would be best. if you are going to spend 5 min spreading it around then myself i would not use one.

 

[PaintedWolf]

Doesn't that pretty much make it a waste of time to pass it through the animal first?


None of the following has ever been PROVEN scientifically, and in fact most of it has been DISproven, which is why they use so many "qualifiers" rather than saying it actually does any of those things
The information is a cut and paste from Wolf Creek Ranch, whose main goal is to SELL you some DE:
http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/defaq.html

Can anyone logically explain how it DEHYDRATES a worn inside an animal's body?

And why does that same website tell you it will NOT kill Earthworms in your garden?


It's an insecticide, and not much else

I don't even know if this info is accurate, but supposedly, rather than dehydrating parasites inside the body, this is how it works (from Earthworks Health):

It looks like a cylinder full of holes. This cylinder has a very strong negative charge. As these millions of cylinders move through the stomach and digestive tract, they attract and absorb fungi, protozoa, viruses, endotoxins, pesticides and drug residues, E-Coli, and heavy metals. These are trapped inside the cylinder and passed out of the body. In addition, any larger parasites that happen to be in the stomach or digestive tract are "cut up" and killed by the sharp edges of the Diatomaceous Earth.

 

[chfite]

The use of diatomaceous earth is contentious to some. Many things are supported anecdotally. When I use it in the feed, the flies are substantially fewer. The feces seem to be more solid, and perhaps less moist. Perhaps this inhibits the growth of the fly larva. I have used in my shop, just dusting around and about for a trial. All the spiders died. The extant cobwebs fell into disrepair.

If by its cutting action, it lacerates the hard covering of the insect and allows it to dehydrate or "bleed", it satisfies me that I see results.

Chris

 

[HereInOz]

I bought some DE recently and used some of it to dust my chihuahua's bed with. I keep a mealworm 'farm' near the dog's bed and the next morning most of my beetles had died! I didn't even place it directly on them, I was very careful to apply it only on the dog's bed. Maybe the dog shook some of it off and it became airborne? Needless, to say I've found a different spot to keep my mealworms and it was proof to me that DE definitely works...at least it does on mealworms

.

 

[PaintedWolf]

Good to know!

 

[Sunflowergirl]

Thanks for this bit of wisdom!

I had always understood that DE lysed (cut open) the guts of whatever bug critter ingested it.

this is put on all items that may be inhaled. Its a very powdery substance.

i just picked up some wood sheeting from Lowe's. there where warning stickers on those. This item may produce wood dust. A substance known to cause cancer by the state of California. Fricken wood dust....

What i am saying is...use your best judgment. If you are going to spend most the day in a cloud of dust then maybe a mask would be best. if you are going to spend 5 min spreading it around then myself i would not use one.