How Much DE (Diatomaceous Earth) Should I Feed My Chickens

[CatDaddyAlbert]

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Thank You!

 

[gale65]

But it belongs to the PTB at BYC and they have every right to enforce their rules and guidelines and moderate as they see fit.

And I wish I could find food grade DE locally. I may have to go to some places and look for myself because I wonder if people who work there don't know exactly what it is or it's called something different.

 

[BrattishTaz]

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I have heard DE referred to as fossil flour by some. Try asking for that locally. You could aslo purchase online.

 

[ShanCarl1971]

Fossil Shell Flour, I believe. I think that's what a lot of health food stores sell it as. But, no matter what you call it, its HARD to find!! I ended up ordering online.

 

[cuntryuppiechick]

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Wow... my mother has been bugging me for ages to find something to improve her nails and hair! She's tried pretty much everything in the cosmetics aisle, maybe this will work. It certainly can't hurt. What's your recipe for the DE in a shake? Thanks.

Grab everything yummy from the fridge. Ice cream, choco syrup, peanut butter, bananas, berries, flax, wheat germ, Oreo cookies, and throw it in the blender with one or two heaping spoonfuls for food grade DE.

2 parts ice cream
1 part milk
2 parts total of extras
2 spoons DE

For nails and skin rub olive oil (for vitamin E) into your hands instead of creams. Add a drop or two of tea tree oil, or most essential oils, to help with fungus or other nail issues. I do that from time to time, the olive oil all the time. Can't remember the last time I bought lotion. I have a bottle of olive oil for the bathroom now.

 

[tclegg]

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Thank you--for taking the time for your info and wisdom--I appreciate it....This is what I have been wanting to know...

 

[immyjay54]

You sure are welcome

 

[ChickenAl]

The organic feed we are presently using has it already in there. Don't know the concentration, but it helps knowing it is in it.

We also use it in the coop and run. A little bit here and there, a couple of handfuls really, and the coop does not smell, nor the run. And I feel they are better off having it their run for dust baths.

 

[R_Chickens]

Forgive the slightly OT, but related question: How much should I use to 'dust' our pine shavings using the deep litter method? enclosed, raised floor, lined with linoleum sheet.

I figured the Q is okay since the OP asked about how to use food grade DE.

One note about the sources referenced in earlier posts. In my experience, ehow.com is a woefully unreliable source for complete and factual data. Pro or con doesn't matter, just don't count on that site for definitive info.

I could ask if cars will run on Jello, then answer from a different computer, quoting a bunch of nonsense and some people would believe it would be possible.

Case in point: A few years ago I was consulting for a certain organization who absolutely had to have solid, reliable information on chemicals and safety/interraction data. They were searching online for info and using it in emergency situations.

I advised they stop immediately (later to be a closed-reference system with a trusted university) and demonstrated the point with several examples over the next few weeks.

Did you know 'Shegalsn' (aka 'Shegalsin') was an 'official word' on Wiki for quite some time? Complete with history, etymology, and examples? Professors and intellectuals alike tried to disprove it, but were unable to do so definitively. I eventually removed it after showing it onscreen in a conference

Many times the info on reference sites is only as reliable as the person who posted it.

Anyway, hope you don't mind my question and enjoy the story!

- JC

 

[CarolynF]

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Actually if you'll look at the topic name, and the question I asked in the first post (the OP), the question on the table is how much to FEED...
"How much DE (diatomaceous earth) should I be feeding? I only have 2 chickens right now so I only put out about 1 lb of food at a time. Would I add a tablespoon, teaspoon, 1 ounce... ? "

But a lot of folks keep pulling the focus to a wide variety of OTHER topics, making it really hard to get a useful answer.
.