My Love Affair With Ducks...

[duluthralphie]

I heart about DE when i was living in Texas, people there were using it by the bag around their houses to keep the fire-ants at bey. - I preferred the gasoline and match method, more satisfying to see those b*tches burn!
But if it has hurt your nose, what has it done to your birds? They have much larger air filled cvities in their bodies than us…

So we could lie down lines of DE to stop the forward march of an army of evil dux, is what you’re saying?

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

The DE that goes in my pool says don't touch it and cover your nose and mouth. Think powdered glass. I never understood using it with animals but it's great for pool filtration. I always have a giant bag lying around. My ducks will eat fire ants and as much as I dislike poison, I will use it on them. The ants not the ducks Ralphie. I hit a huge hill of fire ants with the riding lawn mower on a windy day. Good thing I live in the country, as I stripped and ran naked through the yard to get to the shower. People could have been scarred for life.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

The DE that goes in my pool says don't touch it and cover your nose and mouth. Think powdered glass. I never understood using it with animals but it's great for pool filtration. I always have a giant bag lying around. My ducks will eat fire ants and as much as I dislike poison, I will use it on them. The ants not the ducks Ralphie. I hit a huge hill of fire ants with the riding lawn mower on a windy day. Good thing I live in the country, as I stripped and ran naked through the yard to get to the shower. People could have been scarred for life.

I don't believe it can cut up your lungs or anything like people say. It's useless once it gets wet...
Your insides are wet. That's why I don't understand how people think it kills worms if ingested.
But anything powdery isn't good to breathe.

 

[Angileen]

Good deal...


but I am still not going to ever kiss an animal...

I have minor germophobe tendencies and the idea of swapping spit with an animal sends me running.

I like petting, holding Pets and animals but anything else is too much. A couple times, Pearl, my now elderly mutt, has gotten a lick in on my face...I immediately freak out, run to the bathroom, brush my teeth, gargle and take a shower..

The entire time I am doing these basic first aid responses my not so dear WW is laughing and teasing me about over reacting..

As a nurse you would think she would be helping me, but nope.. not one ounce of help.

It made me laugh just by reading it! I do however hate when dogs lick my face they are so wet and sloppy, cats on the other hand don't bother me. I am sure you're really going to think I'm nuts when I tell you when I was a child I would clean the duck coop out with bare feet because it was much easier to wash duck poo off my feet with a hose than try and clean the bottom of my boots. But now that I am an adult I do wear boots in the chicken coop I can't stand stepping in poo now!

 

[Mimi13]

I put it around their puddles they make at the buckets it can get nasty and it’s one way to use it up

That is an idea. It IS out in the open and my schnoz won’t be down there inhaling it.

 

[Miss Lydia]

There’s food grade DE and pool grade DE. I have the food grade. Dusty but doesn’t have the sharp stuff in it.

 

[Mimi13]

@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.

Once again, you have given me excellent advice, and in great detail! Thanks!

I have had these little sweet things almost 2 weeks and I already see their management is completely different than a chicken’s, neither one being better or worse, just different.

Luckily I don’t have the freezing weather problems to deal with. Heck, we barely had two good cold snaps this past ‘winter.’ Can we all say, “Hello multitude of bugs!”? I dread it. I will get some straw to use where they bed down. As I said earlier, I just don’t have a working knowledge of straw, only hay that we feed to the horses. I’ve never even seen a bale of straw. Surely TSC has it!

One of my “good” qualities, if there is such a thing , is I am pretty astute. When it comes to detecting and dealing with problems, I don’t think it will take long before I see which will be best for me as far as a management system for these little things.

I can already guess all my worry and concern will probably go down the drain when the ducks reject my setup for them and decide to go elsewhere to sleep. That’ll be okay I guess as long as it’s inside a place I can lock up at night.

Thank you, Shaw, for your input on this. It has helped quite a lot!

 

[duluthralphie]

I don’t understand why her advice gets a thank you and my great advice is ignored...

2 cold snaps a year!! It was 16 degrees here this morning. I hope my bees are cozy and warm.

 

[duluthralphie]

There’s food grade DE and pool grade DE. I have the food grade. Dusty but doesn’t have the sharp stuff in it.

What possible use is there for food grade DE?

 

[DuckGirl77]

That is an idea. It IS out in the open and my schnoz won’t be down there inhaling it.

I feel wasteful now, I threw mine away. Couldn't stand looking at that ugly bag just takin up space