Flies, Odor and DE (with Photos)

[MissPrissy]

I use DE in my barns to control odor as well as flies, mosquitoes and any other insect/bug/parasite that might take up residence in my barns.

I know some have stated that the DE isn't keeping up with their problems this year but for me it is working perfectly well. I keep my barns dry and use a fan on hot days. I use the deep liter method and turn over the mix of shavings and hay as needed. I keep DE sprinkled liberally over everything and everywhere the chickens go. I put it in their feed. I keep their dust bath area well powdered too.

My chickens are very healthy, friendly and alert.

This is one of the RSL cockeral that came this spring as a packing peanut. He is 10 weeks old this coming monday.

This is a selection of the fly strips in my barn. They have been hanging since May.

I fully believe in using DE. If you have never used it you should really give it a chance if you are having odor or fly problems. Using the DE also is a natural wormer and is very healthy for the chickens.

If you have never used DE please understand you must ONLY use the food grade product. It may read as codex grade fossil shell flour. I use Perma-Guard brand. It is 100% DE.

Good luck. I hope you have clean smelling and fly free coops ASAP.

Updated to add -

I buy my DE through dirtworks.net. The shipping can be expensive but so far they have the best shipping price to my door.

Note - One key to the success of DE is keeping the interior of your coop dry. My waterers are located near the door and are set up on level blocks to keep anything from spilling or splashing. I cannot stress enough about keeping the roosts, floors and bedding as dry as possible.

Also notice no flies on the strips - just a few moths that must have been attracted by the lights at night.

 

[biretta]

Thanks for the tip. I currently use DE only in the feed; I use Sweet PDZ everywhere else, e.g. dust bath area, shavings, etc. I still have a substantial fly problem and have been meaning to try DE for that but the local feed store's been out of stock. I definitely will try it though, especially now! How effective are the fly strips?

 

[w8tn4fresheggs]

I too have had great success with DE. I put it in the food, coop, where they hang out during the day and dust bath areas.

 

[Dawn419]

MissPrissy,

Just curious...how long have you been using DE?

I've been using Perma Guard DE here on everbody (in their feed, under the rabbit hutches, in the Banties coop/run and around the yard) since the middle of June.

I was surprised to notice fewer flies (since using it) as we are surrounded by neighbors' livestock on all sides. We still have them but not near as bad as usual. The ants were actually worse than flies but they are slowly thinning out also.

The best part was when DH and a few friends were checking out the chickens and a comment was made about how it doesn't smell like a farm here and the lack of a gazillion flies!

Dawn

 

[MissPrissy]

We have been here 2 1/2 years - so for here about 2 years of usage. Previously I lived all my life in Georgia and I can't really say how long or when I first discovered DE for the coop and chickens. My former in-laws introduced it to me a long time ago as they raised turkeys and chickens for many many years. We lived in an area that had lots of grain gins and pet food plants and I assume they got the DE from one of those sources.

The smell! I know! My barns doesn't smell like livestock. It smells like sweet hay and sunshine!

 

[speckledhen]

I use DE the same way, in the feed, shavings, pen, etc. We must just have the worst fly year ever here. I have bone dry coops with fly strips, fly traps outside, DE everywhere, Sweet PDZ. And I have a box fan hanging from the rafters that blows all day and night. It is just not working the way it usually does. I used 50 # of Food Grade DE in two months and I only have an 8x20 coop and a 7x4 coop with attached runs. The main thing I caught in the fly strip was my young Ameraucana cockerel, who must have flown straight up into the corner when tormented by one of the older hens-boy, was that a mess!!!!! He got his first bath, the poor thing.
The coops don't smell really bad, but we've had TONS of rain here, almost daily and they haven't completely dried out yet.

 

[lizardz]

I've read that you can feed DE to your other animals, too. True? If so, how much/often would you give to dogs, cats, horses? Thanks for any help!

 

[4boysmom]

Our bees are fairly close to our chickens - will it kill them?

 

[cookinmom]

I've been putting DE in their food, inside their house on the shavings, in the nestboxes and in their dusting areas (the whole perimeter of the run basically) for a couple months now. There really isn't much noticeable smell except right after it rains when the air is steamy. (We're at 93 degrees right now,with 49% humidity, giving us what Accuweather calls a Realfeel of 99).
We had a lot of flies earlier in the year, but since we re-homed our dog, our fly population has dropped noticeably! I did the thing with the pennies in the bag of water, but didn't really notice if it helped.

I keep ACV in their water all the time, so I'm hoping that, combined with the DE in the feed will keep them from having to be wormed.
I used to sprinkle DE over my dog's food, too, but it didn't seem to help a whole lot with his odor/fly problem.

 

[Dawn419]

Quote:
http://www.freshwaterorganics.com/DE_for_Humans.htm

Scroll down the page just a bit and it gives dosages. HTH

Edited to add: The critters and I do our DE daily.

Dawn