More questions about DE...kids and rain...

[crazy4eggsJulie]

Just did my first lice/mite prevention today. I haven't actually seen anything on any of my chickens yet. However, I definitely want to be proactive in keeping my birds clean and healthy. I poofed everybody with poultry dust and cleaned the coop from top to bottom. I sprinkled a little of the poultry dust and a little food grade DE all over the concrete floor before replacing the shavings. Also made a pile of DE in the run for them to dust in. My DE label has no warnings, but I noticed that the poultry dust warns not to let children do the dusting. Well, that got me to worrying...my kids hold and love these chickens several times a day. Is it harmful for them to handle the birds that have been treated with the dust and who have also bathed in the DE?
Also noticed the label said not to dust the nesting area. I sprinkled the DE in there instead -(no warnings on container to discourage me)

Last, do you guys put the DE in the coop for them to dust in it? I read other posts that say it doesn't work if it gets wet out in the run. Do you offer it all the time for them to dust in, or just occassionally?

Thanks!

 

[cgmccary]

DE will not prevent mites any better than a good dust bath will in some good dirt or sand. The only time I ever had mites, I was faithfully using DE -- I know it doesn't work from personal experience. Just to see if the DE would kill the mites, I dusted each bird with a dusting pistol right down to skin level, under the feathers with DE. It did not kill them. It looked like a DE cloud in my run. I next tried the same thing with sevin dust, then with the Poultry dust-- the mites were resistant to these substances as most are these days. It took Ivermectin treatment on each bird to rid the mites (with a follow-up treatment).

I don't use DE anymore and haven't had mites. I think DE is rather benign but useless. DE is a waste of your good money. Mites come from wild birds or if you introduce a bird from the outside to your flock that has them. To prevent them, control access of wild birds & limit introductions of new flock members-- that is the best preventative.

I have used a natural enzyme about the run and area called "Poultry Protector" I ordered from First State. I haven't had any mites, but I am not necessarily attributing it to the stuff until I know more. It could be I have no mites because I have had no bird intros. I notice all my birds taking regular dust baths. I occasionally put down lime (both the ground limestone and the dolomitic pellets variety) -- I do this for odor control, but I have noticed the lime mixes well with the dirt and is fine like DE so probably makes a good dust bath material as well & it is MUCH cheaper ($3 for like a 30 lb bag).

 

[Mahonri]

I use DE in the coop to make clean up easier.

 

[jthayerkatz]

As long as it is food grade DE it is not harmful to your children, my kids eat the stuff and it has not caused any problems.
The one problem we have seen is with kids with asthma. When dusting the animals, children with asthma should stay clear. The high dust level from the animal shaking can cause an attack.

I have no experience with adult asthma but would think that the same would apply.

once the dust settles, no problem.
Our birds tend to scatch out pits to dust in and we fill these pits with DE as needed. Whenever they look empty due to rain or whatever.
We also use it on our roost and on the floor under the bedding to reduce flies and odors.