I finally found DE! So.. what should I do with it?

[ColoredEggHome]

Please forgive my newbie ignorance. I know that DE is good for my flock and that I can sprinkle it in the coop but what else does it do? I've read some people put it in the chickens food or dust bath area.. How much do I use? How often do I use it.

Its Red Lake Earth Food Grade DE from Tractor Supply. Its dark grey.. I was expecting white.

Thanks in advance.

 

[dawg53]

Please forgive my newbie ignorance. I know that DE is good for my flock and that I can sprinkle it in the coop but what else does it do? I've read some people put it in the chickens food or dust bath area.. How much do I use? How often do I use it.

Its Red Lake Earth Food Grade DE from Tractor Supply. Its dark grey.. I was expecting white.

Thanks in advance.

Honestly, take it back and get a refund and save yourself some money.

 

[Joe.G]

I mix it in my food I kind of just put some in dont meassure it, I also sprinkle it around inside the coop and nesting boxes, I feed it to all my other animals also. Wolfcreekranch or something close to that has a lot of good info.

 

[angusshangus]

I use it in the pan underneath my coop that poop drops into. makes a terrific drying agent. keeps the smells down! I also add some to their food occaisonaly.

 

[cravenchx]

I use in the coop, to sprinkle on the droppings. It does dry it
up, and I layer more straw, de, straw,de. It will also prevent flys
from overcoming the coop. It causes there little bodies to be
deformed, or something like that. Not exactly sure.
And....the reason I use straw in my coop is to benefit my
compost pile. Before anyone goes on to say I need to use sand.

 

[suebee]

I also use it in the coop and nest boxes. I dust the chickens w/ it also. Use a mask to avoid breathing the particles. DE is useless when wet so don't waste it on the runs.

 

[dawg53]

I use in the coop, to sprinkle on the droppings. It does dry it
up, and I layer more straw, de, straw,de. It will also prevent flys
from overcoming the coop. It causes there little bodies to be
deformed, or something like that. Not exactly sure.
And....the reason I use straw in my coop is to benefit my
compost pile. Before anyone goes on to say I need to use sand.

Sand is better, dries quicker than dirt and doesnt run off when there is a downpour. It helps deter flies and other bugs. DE is useless when wet and disappears/dissolves if there's a downpour. A truckload of sand is cheaper than a 40-50# bag of DE.

 

[kuntrygirl]

 

I use in the coop, to sprinkle on the droppings.  It does dry it
up, and I layer more straw, de, straw,de.  It will also prevent flys
from overcoming the coop.  It causes there little bodies to be
deformed, or something like that.  Not exactly sure.
And....the reason I use straw in my coop is to benefit my
compost pile.  Before anyone goes on to say I need to use sand.

Sand is better, dries quicker than dirt and doesnt run off when there is a downpour. It helps deter flies and other bugs. DE is useless when wet and disappears/dissolves if there's a downpour. A truckload of sand is cheaper than a 40-50# bag of DE.

 

I agree with dawg53.

 

[Capvin]

I mix a bit of Sevin dust with the DE and I sprinkle it on the floor of the coop and mix it in with the pine shavings. It works very well in keeping almost all bugs, mites. Also, since I clean the poop out of the coop every morning it also serves to dry up the droppings and makes it quite a bit easier to keep everything clean. At night when the chickens before the chickens go on their roost they spend a minute or so scratching around and they get the dust on their legs and I believe that has been a great deterence of lice and mites.

 

[ColoredEggHome]

Honestly, take it back and get a refund and save yourself some money.

Is it because of this particular brand or do you not recommend DE at all. My main reasons for wanting to use it is to prevent mites and flies.