I buy food grade DE online through a small family business who have supplied me for a number of years now. If you need to dust the birds you can put some DE in an old sock or stocking and then pat the bird all over with it. The DE (which I swear by, I might add) has kept our flocks clear of any worm and parasite problems for years. I have never had to deworm in 5 years. The DE actually looks like sharp little daggers if you were to look under a microscope and it is an excellent mechanical 'insecticide'. The 'daggers' pierce the pests exoskeleton and they dehydrate and die. The nasty little critters can't build up an immunity to it
and if you mix it with your birds feed it will stop moths etc from reproducing in the feed, it also provides minerals for the birds and the other thing that I love is that it is passed in their faeces and when the flies lay their eggs in the chicken poop the hatchlings die too. We have never had a fly problem and the other thing is that the poop tends to stink less... if you read up about it there is plenty more about the benefits of DE.... we love the stuff. We used to buy the DE with a plant extract added, that worked like a charm on fireant nests without introducing toxins to your soil.
