Is DE safe for chickens

[Debby R]

Actually DE is only effective on soft bodied critters when the DE is dry. It has no effect when wet, or in the gut.
It is open pit mined, bad for the workers, at least. Look that up!

Natural' doesn't mean 'harmless'!
It is a serious irritant to anyone's lungs, including your chicken's, and yours. And it has limited to no effectiveness against mites or lice out there.
It's useful in killing mites in feeds, especially if you don't get fresh feed all the time, or if it comes in from the store that way.
I would rather use effective products when necessary, rather than spreading this stuff around at random.
Mary

I agree it is bad. They can do dust baths for parasites. I used it at first then saw how much dust was stirred up when I cleaned the coop. It is bad for the miners, so yes, bad for the chickens. Like talc, it is bad for the lungs. And I seriously question how it kills parasites. Drop a pile on ants. Most of them just keep doing what they’re doing. Not a great desiccant.

 

[Goldmoon]

I used DE when I first became a chicken mom, between the dust my girls produce and the dust in the bedding it made coop cleaning a nightmare on my lungs. I now have 3 coops, 2 wood floor and one linoleum I add a few drops of tea tree oil Into a mix of vinegar and water with a little blue dawn dish soap for mopping the floor in linoleum coop, and water and vinegar with a few drops tea tree in a spray bottle for the wood floor coops.
For gut and bowel health I add apple cider vinegar (with the mother) to waters, but if you do this you must provide a fresh water source for them as well.

 

[perkolator]

I use DE in my coop area because its pretty hard to argue against the science behind what it does to insects/parasites that come in contact with it. It's even a listed ingredient for the commercially produced chicken feed we buy.

But as with everything, it does have a hazard potential if not handled/used in a safe manner - specifically a respiratory hazard. DE is even classified as a carcinogen according to OSHA, but technically so would be "dirt" and everything else that's got crystalline silica minerals in it and is a respirable substance.

If you or your flock is standing there, breathing in a cloud of dust - it's probably not a great idea, especially for smaller animals....but used in a moderately controlled method without going overboard with it, you'll probably be fine.

 

[aart]

It's even a listed ingredient for the commercially produced chicken feed we buy.

That's just to kill grain mites living in the stored feed.

 

[JaeG]

I use DE in my coop area because its pretty hard to argue against the science behind what it does to insects/parasites that come in contact with it. It's even a listed ingredient for the commercially produced chicken feed we buy.

But as with everything, it does have a hazard potential if not handled/used in a safe manner - specifically a respiratory hazard. DE is even classified as a carcinogen according to OSHA, but technically so would be "dirt" and everything else that's got crystalline silica minerals in it and is a respirable substance.

If you or your flock is standing there, breathing in a cloud of dust - it's probably not a great idea, especially for smaller animals....but used in a moderately controlled method without going overboard with it, you'll probably be fine.

I can attest to the fact that it does not have any affect on red mites. We had a nasty outbreak of those suckers and I found thousands of mites hiding in the bed of DE I'd put in the bottom of the nesting boxes underneath the pine shavings. The mites were all very much alive and unaffected by the DE. That was the last time I ever used the stuff.

 

[Killyhawker]

I use FOOD GRADE DE and one a month all over the dirt after I deep clean it. It might help with other crawlies in the dirt—parasitic worms. My girls were sneezing worse in just plain dirt. I also sprinkle sand over that to keep the dust down.