I put it around their puddles they make at the buckets it can get nasty and it’s one way to use it up 
My Love Affair With Ducks...
- Thread starter Mimi13
- Start date
I can’t even think of a use for it.I put it around their puddles they make at the buckets it can get nasty and it’s one way to use it up
What is the problem with diatomic earth?
And for which purpose have you bought?
Real question! I have no clue about DE…
- Thread starter
- #295
I purchased DE only because I had read that it was the ‘cure all’ for everything in keeping chickens. I went out on a mission one day to grab my own because I was a chicken keeper and obviously needed some too, even though I couldn’t even pronounce it.
I can’t dispute that it does have uses, but I can say for certain that it can be harmful.
I sprinkled it on the pine shavings I used in my very small, prefab coop. It did two things for me: dried the poop droppings from 4 pullets so that I could just easily pick them out and I ‘suppose’ helped with external parasites as the girls would take little pine shavings baths during this early period of their life.
When I cleaned the coop (every day) I would literally poke my head and upper torso into the little coop and pick out the poops. Over the several months I used this stuff, I must have been inhaling the dust. No, I didn’t use a face mask.
One of the better known properties of Diatomaceous Earth is the razor edged particles it contains that slice through everything that it comes in contact with. One of the things that it came in contact with was my nasal cavity. I began having nosebleeds quite often. I never had had nosebleeds before and not long after I stopped using the DE my nose bleeds stopped.
Some people swear by the stuff, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
Make that three fantastic deals
I have a quarter of a bag left somewhere that I'm never going to use.
The only use I've had for de is it does absorb moisture. I have used it in the run after we've had long periods of rain and stirred it in with the shavings to help dry things out.
But it's so powdery it goes through the air and I don't want to be breathing it nor do I want my birds to breathe it. So instead I started using stall dry stuff, it's more granulated like a cat litter.
But it's so powdery it goes through the air and I don't want to be breathing it nor do I want my birds to breathe it. So instead I started using stall dry stuff, it's more granulated like a cat litter.
@Mimi13
To confuse you even more about the straw vs. Pine shavings...
I primarily use the shavings. But sometimes in the winter I like to use both.
for the most part I do not like to put straw in any places that I am going to walk because it gets too slippery.
Like Patty I have vinyl in my duck palace floor, so generally shavings work well in there. In the winter they spend so much time in there that they flatten out those shavings to the point it looks like pressboard if I don't stir it every single day. Adding a little straw keeps it fluffed up a bit more where they can Nestle down in it to stay warm.
In the run when the ground is frozen I can't always stir the shavings out there. So I will use straw to throw down over wet poopy areas because I can just pick the straw up and throw it away and add clean straw as needed.
My Cayuga duck houses just have a wooden floor. I am kind of like hillbilly in the winter. It's easier for me to be able to remove a layer of straw and add another layer of clean versus having to scoop out all the shavings for a thorough cleaning. for those houses I like to put down a layer of pine shavings to absorb moisture before it hits the floor then use straw on the top. I don't like to have a lot of straw out on the ground because it does not break down and decompose like shavings do. But again in the winter months I will use it around the waterers on the ground just to cover up icy patches. I just scoop it up and remove it when it thaws out.
To confuse you even more about the straw vs. Pine shavings...
I primarily use the shavings. But sometimes in the winter I like to use both.
for the most part I do not like to put straw in any places that I am going to walk because it gets too slippery.
Like Patty I have vinyl in my duck palace floor, so generally shavings work well in there. In the winter they spend so much time in there that they flatten out those shavings to the point it looks like pressboard if I don't stir it every single day. Adding a little straw keeps it fluffed up a bit more where they can Nestle down in it to stay warm.
In the run when the ground is frozen I can't always stir the shavings out there. So I will use straw to throw down over wet poopy areas because I can just pick the straw up and throw it away and add clean straw as needed.
My Cayuga duck houses just have a wooden floor. I am kind of like hillbilly in the winter. It's easier for me to be able to remove a layer of straw and add another layer of clean versus having to scoop out all the shavings for a thorough cleaning. for those houses I like to put down a layer of pine shavings to absorb moisture before it hits the floor then use straw on the top. I don't like to have a lot of straw out on the ground because it does not break down and decompose like shavings do. But again in the winter months I will use it around the waterers on the ground just to cover up icy patches. I just scoop it up and remove it when it thaws out.
Make that three fantastic deals
I have a quarter of a bag left somewhere that I'm never going to use.
I am thinking whoever a couple years ago came on BYC and started the rumors about all its “natural” uses and how great it was..
worked as a DE salesman or regional manager.
The bag I have which is probably 1/4 of a 50lb bag I have had for probably since 2006
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