I accidentally used the wrong kind of diatomaceous earth in my goose coop! Will they be Okay?

[Jenbirdee]

There were a lot of ants so I sprinkled the diatomaceous earth around the edges of their coop. but then found out that I used "Garden safe" kind instead of "Food Grade" kind. They were only out there one night then I found out my mistake and actually vacuumed up all the dust I could.
I'm watching my geese they seem fine so far but Im concerned because the "garden safe" kind says not safe for pets and also says don't use it anywhere the water could runoff etc... I believe geese are sensitive to pesticides 'and herbicides so I am very careful but now I made this dumb error. Will they be okay?

 

[nuthatched]

They'll probably be fine, geese are hardy critters. De is something that really shouldn't be used around anything that breathes but your geese will be fine. You can spritz it down with water to nullify it too.

 

[Ganspaar]

Yes. It will be fine. Garden safe/food safe...are still quite safe. You just don't want to breath any appreciable amounts, or get it in your eyes. It's the pool type that you need to be careful with. And even that, in small amounts, hosed down, shouldn't pose any problems.

DE kills insects by making small cuts in their exoskeleton, and they then eventually lose body fluids and dehydrate. So they have to crawl in/through it, to get enough on them. Since geese (and us) are so much larger, the small amounts we use for insects is rarely enough to cause concern. Mostly you just have to be careful when you apply it...while it's floating in the air.