Have I just harmed myself?

[tbest5179]

Hi!

My chickens have a lot of biting mosquito-like insects around. I'm new to chickens and when I got them, I was given a bag of white powdery stuff and told to use it to kill bugs. I think its DE (diatomaceous earth, after looking it up on the interget a moment ago). Well, without researching first, I grabbed handfuls of the white stuff and spread it around and on the chickens, assuming if it doesn't kill chickens it certainly wont hurt me. Well... now that I've looked it up (AFTER I used it - don't need to tell me that's dumb), I'm a little scared. Looks like its not good for you at all.
So... should I be worried about my health? Will a 10-min exposure hurt me too much? And why is it ok for chickens to breath?

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

You need to make sure that it is DE and not Sevin. If it's DE, you're fine.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

You should be fine (unless you have severe nasal allergies or asthma), and your chickens will be fine too. The dust is really not good for anything to be breathing. It's best to spread it around at night or while your chickens are out foraging and away from the coop.

 

[spook]

Wow, I don't know but can't blame you for being nervous. Good luck to you and keep this in mind, anything we breath in, along with our girls, may harm us.

 

[tbest5179]

I've asked the person I got it from if its DE. I'm HOPING!! Why would we 'dust the chickens" with something so nasty?

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Chickens can be dusted with Sevin for mites and it can also be added to their bedding. It's just used more sparingly than DE.