dust bath question -- what is DE?

[Delia]

I have read in several posts about how people can use a plant pot or a litter box with sand and DE in the chicken tractor for the dust bath on good weather days. That makes sense, but I still have yet to figure out what DE is.

I'm a newbie and barely finished building the tractor and don't even have any chickens yet.

Delia

 

[MoodyChicken]

Diatamacious earth.

Some kind of focilized shell. It kills bugs by tearing their lungs to shreds. Be sure to get food grade if you'll be using it for chickens. The DE used in a swimming pool and the DE used by chickens are totally different... the first can actually kill your birds. And be sure to use it in a well ventilated area. Breathing it in on a regular basis is harmful for chicken and human lungs.

 

[GallowayFarms]

DE is a powder made of fossilized sealife. When it is crushed if has very fine cutting edges which makes it great for an insecticide. First before you use it, You need to know if you have a bug problem. If you don't it is not worth wasting your money on. If you start having a insect or pericite problem I would maybe look into it. But that is the reason why you have the chickens out there is to eat the insects out of the grass

DE is a great product but I think it gets over used alot as a answer to problems on this website forum. So if you don't have a problem don't don't try to fix it.