Is this DE safe?

[MikaylaSD]

My husband and I went and bought DE at Home Depot today to put in our chickens dust bath and sprinkle in the coop as preventative maintenance to avoid mites/lice. From what I understand it's safe but it doesn't say "food grade" on the bag...is this safe for my chickens? I want to be sure before I put it in the coop tomorrow. http://m.homedepot.com/p/Safer-Bran...rth-Ant-and-Crawling-Insect-Killer/202743025/

 

[SavageDestiny]

If it does not say food grade I would not use it.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

My husband and I went and bought DE at Home Depot today to put in our chickens dust bath and sprinkle in the coop as preventative maintenance to avoid mites/lice. From what I understand it's safe but it doesn't say "food grade" on the bag...is this safe for my chickens? I want to be sure before I put it in the coop tomorrow. http://m.homedepot.com/p/Safer-Bran...rth-Ant-and-Crawling-Insect-Killer/202743025/

If you use DE or Diatomaceous Earth be more concerned with your own health than with your chickens health. Diatom shells ARE silica regardless of what anyone says. Some other common uses of Diatomaceous Earth are in the manufacturing of Oil Dry, cat litter, dynamite, sanding compounds, and industrial oil filtering mediums.

DE is good for controlling snails, nematodes, segmented worms, common earth worms, and slugs. In other words any thing with a soft or slimy body like members of the Mollusk family. If DE is used on any hard bodied member of the insect or arachnid family then DE is not an effective pesticide. There are plenty of posts in this forum attesting to this. You don't have to take my word for it, research it for yourself.

http://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/ajrccm.158.3.9709103#.U5vuFzYo45s

 

[MikaylaSD]

If you use DE or Diatomaceous Earth be more concerned with your own health than with your chickens health. Diatom shells ARE silica regardless of what anyone says. Some other common uses of Diatomaceous Earth are in the manufacturing of Oil Dry, cat litter, dynamite, sanding compounds, and industrial oil filtering mediums.

DE is good for controlling snails, nematodes, segmented worms, common earth worms, and slugs. In other words any thing with a soft or slimy body like members of the Mollusk family. If DE is used on any hard bodied member of the insect or arachnid family then DE is not an effective pesticide. There are plenty of posts in this forum attesting to this. You don't have to take my word for it, research it for yourself.

http://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/ajrccm.158.3.9709103#.U5vuFzYo45s

Thank you for the info, I will definitely read up on it more. It was recommended to me on this form so I figured I would try it out. What do you recommend to use for preventing mites or lice? I appreciate the feedback.

 

[Chicken Review]

Hey, MikaylaSD I would be sure it says "Food Grade" before allowing my chickens to be exposed to it in their coops. You can find a good article on lice and mite treatment over here at the Chicken Chick. http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html . This is a very interesting and educational read.

 

[winteree]

My husband and I went and bought DE at Home Depot today to put in our chickens dust bath and sprinkle in the coop as preventative maintenance to avoid mites/lice. From what I understand it's safe but it doesn't say "food grade" on the bag...is this safe for my chickens? I want to be sure before I put it in the coop tomorrow. http://m.homedepot.com/p/Safer-Bran...rth-Ant-and-Crawling-Insect-Killer/202743025/

no i wouldn't risk it if it doesn't say "food grade" on it i wouldn't use it for chickens but it most likely garden DE works great for snails but make sure to put something on your face before you spread it as the dust can mess with your lungs

 

[Spongegirl]

Also if you breathe the dust, it can cause issues. I was thinking about it too. If its in the coop when they walk it will be stirred up and in the air. I spend a lot of time in my coop and I don't think I wanna be inhaling DE in the air over the years. I think from now on, I am just going to dust the bird itself instead of spreading DE everywhere. I'd rather use that than pesticide though for sure. I wont have that stuff.

It's ok to use for whatever except eating. Food grade is for eating. It probably just is about quality. Non food grade is fine.

 

[brau]

Just to add my two cents here. Of course you want to make sure the packaging says "food grade" on there. I found this article http://www.diatomaceousearth.com/blog/diatomaceous-earth-food-grade/ to be really helpful in explaining how the packaging works. Every company is different, so that's why I like this website because I know it's all food grade.

 

[Spongegirl]

Thanks for that link. I just read the difference between food grade and the others. I guess people dont actually consume DE like they do Bentonite. I also read the difference between DE and Bentonite. I thought they were the same thing. Nope. I drink bentonite sometimes in my water. I like it. It's nasty, but I like it. lol People that take it says they sleep better.

 

[brau]

Yea that doesn't sound too tasty.