Please do not laugh at the new mom's dumb questions!

[5peeps]

When should you start showing them the roost . If I understand you at night when they start to sleep pick them up and place them on the roost Mine are not use to us yet ( we have had them for 3 days now ) they all run to the corner when I open the brooder which brings me to another thing they peep peep a lot seems like all the time is this normal .

Sorry can anyone tell me what DE is .

Thanks
The Newbie

 

[SoccerMomof7]

I was wondering the same thing about the food grade DE. The local feed store looked at me like I was stupid when I asked for food grade, do you think lowes or TSC has it?

 

[cjeanean]

go to the FAQ about DE. ALWAYS BE SURE THAT WHATEVER DE YOU ARE USING IS FOOD GRADE!!! The pool diatomaceous earth is POISONOUS!!!!! I think Lowe's, walmart, etc carry the poisonous stuff....I had to go to custommilling.com for it, and since there aren't any places that sell it cheap out here I had to buy it from them off line. The problem is shipping, it's almost twice the actual cost of the product, however, it's still cheaper from custom milling than anywhere else. Good luck!!!

 

[chcknrs]

I was asking Greyfields about the whole DE thing, and he told me that animal grade is fine for the garden and dusting the coop. He explained that food grade is for when you add it to the food for worming, and told me there is no research proving that it works.
Was I ever relieved! That's all I wanted it for was dusting for the chickens/coop/run and for in the garden.

5peeps, DE is diatomaceous earth. It is a fine powder that is used for a variety of pest control problems. People dust their chickens and the coops/runs to deter mites and other bugs. It is used by organic gardeners for natural bug control.

 

[Hampshire Hens]

My 6 New Hampshires are already sleeping at night on the roosting bar that I made out of a branch. The funny thing is that they are only 5 days old. Most of the time one gets in another one's spot and they fall off. It is only 3 inches above the floor of my brooder.