There may be a downside to using DE at the highest levels in their feed on a constant basis. A very experienced chicken keeper from old BYC told me about a study of some birds whose management included the DE at the recommended 2% levels in their feed. Necropsies showed their intestinal tract was extremely dried out/dessicated and they attributed it to the DE and cited DE as a contributing factor in their deaths. Another study was just mentioned to me that linked the use of DE in the feed to internal laying as a contributing factor (probably drying out tissues)-I haven't received that link to the study yet. Those are obviously situations where DE was used at the highest doses in the feed on a regular basis. If I get the links, I'll post them. Just throwing this out there, not to down DE, which I still use in certain ways, but since I've never seen those studies mentioned here anywhere.
I used DE in that manner * not quite 2% in feed* for only the briefest time when I first began using it, but thereafter only dumped a couple handfuls in each open feed bag to keep things dry and kill any bugs that may have gotten inside. My main use for DE is in the litter under the roosts and in the straw in the nests to kill any bugs that may want to live there. It does a fine job of that and I go through a 50# bag in a year, using it sparingly in three coops. It's also used to dust broody hens and my crippled rooster who don't dustbathe on a regular basis. I've never had to use any poison for external pests, not yet anyway. For worms, I use chemical wormers about once a year, maybe it even averages out to less than that.
DE loses its cutting power when wet. Insides of a bird are most definitely wet, therefore, I can see why it would not work as a wormer.
I used DE in that manner * not quite 2% in feed* for only the briefest time when I first began using it, but thereafter only dumped a couple handfuls in each open feed bag to keep things dry and kill any bugs that may have gotten inside. My main use for DE is in the litter under the roosts and in the straw in the nests to kill any bugs that may want to live there. It does a fine job of that and I go through a 50# bag in a year, using it sparingly in three coops. It's also used to dust broody hens and my crippled rooster who don't dustbathe on a regular basis. I've never had to use any poison for external pests, not yet anyway. For worms, I use chemical wormers about once a year, maybe it even averages out to less than that.
DE loses its cutting power when wet. Insides of a bird are most definitely wet, therefore, I can see why it would not work as a wormer.
