Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth. Do you know the complete benefits?!?!

[Andora]

I found that DE reduced the fly population around our coop last year, both from sprinkling it around and from putting it on their food. Occasionally I fed my birds DE treats...frozen corn with DE stuck to it. They ate it right up!

 

[Resolution]

The issue is delivery. How do you get into the birds in the quantities where it is useful and without them inhaling it?
Its already in some feed product lines- embedded within the pellets-
Murray McMurray sells Babycakes which have DE right in them. Its also in the Farmer's Helper ForageCakes.

 

[Chauntecleer's Keeper]

I have successfully used DE for 3 years now. We put it out each year to control flies. We have goats and chickens in the same fenced area (about 2500sf). My wife usually sprinkles it on the ground and I rake it in. It builds up in the soil and man does it hammer the flies. I have had no luck with it killing squash bugs in the garden though. Overall, I am a DE fan. I think you need to be responsible with any pest control.

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

Quote:
Azure Standard is a co-op that sells mostly organic foods, and other quality items. I'm not sure how far east they deliver, but the price includes shipment to their shipping route, unless you happen to live in Alaska, like I do. We pay 25 to 30 cents per pound extra for shipping. They ship it to Seattle for the price of the DE, and then our little mini co-op picks it up at the trucking company, and then we all pick up our order. Look up azurestandard.com to see if they have a route in your area. We buy most of our food through them from produce to organic chicken feed.

Edited to add: DE works well for us, and we also feel that the issue with the bees is more of a chemical pesticide issue. Or possibly even biological warfare. (considering that this country has used pesticides freely for many years, and it is only in the past few years that everyone has been seeing a decrease in bees, I am leaning more and more towards this idea) We definitely saw a decrease in bees in this area during the year prior to our using DE. (Like maybe only 2 bees last summer) We didn't get our chickens until late September, and didn't start using DE until October.

 

[RJ_Hythloday]

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That is crazy. Check ebay, you can get 2 lbs shipped for $7 total

What part of VA are you in? I called around last year and best I could find was $12 for a 4lb bag. I just got a 40lb bag of Red Lake Earth at VA Beach Feed and Seed on Witchduck rd.

 

[SimplyForties]

Chauntecleer's Keeper :

I have had no luck with it killing squash bugs in the garden though. Overall, I am a DE fan. I think you need to be responsible with any pest control.

Just out of curiosity and totally off topic - have you tried plucking the squash bugs off the plants and feeding them to the chickens? I've been thinking about doing that when the squash bugs start to show up and I wondered if the chickens would eat them.

 

[foweler]

Will compost made with used litter containing DE be bad for the earthworms in the garden?

 

[Kaela]

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I was just coming in to ask this same question.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Quote:
That's a good question and one I am not completely 100% certain about answering. I would think it would though, because DE does not break down as it is tiny shards of ground up fossils it does not decompose itself. People also take DE to get rid internal parasites, so my theory there is if it kills worms in your own body, then I'm sure it wouldn't be good for the worms in the compost bin or garden. That is just my own theory though.

 

[CallyB57]

It will not hurt the earthworms as long as the soil is damp/wet. DE affects them if they are in dry soil, which is not typical, because worms usually stay in moist soil. I spread some DE in an area I have my flower beds and an earthworm came crawling across the grass sometime later and it had an opaque liquid oozing from its little skin all over in tiny spots. I am pretty sure the worm got exposed to the dry soil which contained DE. I am not an expert on earthworms coming into contact with DE in a dry soil condition, but there are others you can email and ask that question - I think you can call the people at Perma-Guard site and ask them about that. Hope this info helps.