do I need to add DE with my sand in the run?

[smcdermott]

We just put sand in our coop and run.
Do I need to add DE to the sand?

 

[JaceAgain]

I would. But I'm obsessed with the stuff

 

[smcdermott]

Can you tell me what you love somuch about it??
Thanks so much

 

[Folly's place]

DE is very bad to breath, and is used by some people to help kill mites and insects. It only is effective when dry, so an uncovered run that gets rained on, or is damp, isn't going to be helped with DE. Mary

 

[JaceAgain]

food grade DE isnt harmful to breath. It is dusty, but you dont have to use that much. Its a mechanical insecticide, at a micro level the DE looks like shards of glass and acts as such to insects, it stabs their exoskeletan and kills them via dehydration. i add it to everything, the coop, their food, the brooder, my garden. It does stop working after it gets wet, but it should be getting wet in the coop or brooder.

 

[Folly's place]

Sorry, DE is not good to breathe when dry! Mary

 

[JaceAgain]

Here, instead of arguing, I'll just post some facts-
http://www.deq.state.or.us/er/docs/LowerBridge/DiatomaceousEarthFactSheet.pdf

3) Could inhaling diatomaceous earth be a health hazard?
Inhaling naturally-occurring DE should pose no more of a health hazard than inhaling dust in general. Whether dust, including DE dust, could cause harm depends on how much of it is “respirable” (i.e., is of the right size to be taken into the lungs), how much of it is in the air (i.e., its air concentration), and how long a person is exposed to (breathes) it. For most people, breathing dust is likely to be no more than an unpleasant nuisance. However, for people with health problems (e.g., asthmatics, the elderly), those who breathe more (e.g., children) or breathe other chemicals (e.g., smokers), exposure to respirable dust at moderate to high concentrations could cause or worsen health problems.


Since I don't consider dust to be harmful, I do not consider DE to be harmful.

 

[Folly's place]

Jace, very nice report, thanks. I would add that some of us are older, or younger, or have asthma. Just sayin'. mary

 

[JaceAgain]

Jace, very nice report, thanks.  I would add that some of us are older, or younger, or have asthma.  Just sayin'.  mary

So by your logic, peanut butter is harmful. Just sayin'