Question about using DE

[JimWWhite]

Uh, I've no knowledge about this stuff as an insecticide but why do you need an absorbent? Do you have a muddy run from all the rain or something? If you're trying to manage that then using this stuff is way, way too expensive. Try sand. Plain old sand. Sand drains very quickly and won't get all muddy. You'll need about three inches of inexpensive creek sand over your entire run. You won't need to buy the expensive white sand. Just ask for the least expensive sand they have at a landscape supply yard. We can get it here in the Carolinas for about $25.00 a ton plus shipping, which may be more expensive than the actual sand. For an 8'X12' run for example a full ton would be plenty. Make sure you have some way of enclosing the sand so it won't get washed away in a heavy rain. You could use bricks or landscaping timbers lining the inside of the run to keep it in.

I have an 18'x21' run with my coop in the middle and my Gals stay nice and dry. Every few days I go out with my hoe and turn it up which turns down the poop. Keeps things clean and dry. It also brings up worms and bugs which the Gals love. Now they fight over who gets in line first behind me when they see me coming with my hoe in my hand. The added benefit is that in the spring I'll remove about a third of it and put it in my garden and replace it with fresh sand. Doing that once a year will keep everything a lot cleaner and a lot less smelly.

 

[SimplyForties]

You use DE as an absorbent in the coop, not in the run. It draws the moisture out of the poo, which keeps the smell down. It doesn't take much and is very effective. Sand, on the other hand, isn't actually absorbent. It does provide excellent drainage though, which makes it perfect in the run and as a base in the coop. I use 6" of sand in my coop, covered with 6-8" of deep litter, mixed with DE. The perfect combo, IMHO!

 

[PunkinPeep]

Jim,

A lot of people use the deep litter method in the actual coop, which you can read about here . A small amount of food grade d.e. is very helpful to make this method successful. I can only assume that this is what the o.p. has in mind. The absorbent quality of the d.e. helps cut down on ammonia smell and helps dry out the chicken poop.

 

[JimWWhite]

We've been doing this for almost a year now and we clean our coop at least once or twice a week. By that I mean we clean out the poop under the roosts and that goes in the compost pile. Then we put back in maybe a quarter of a bale of pine shavings. Usually we don't have to do it on the left side because there's no roosting bars over there. Then every couple of weeks or maybe three we pull it all out and clean it out entirely and wipe everything down with soapy water. It works for us and we've not noticed the smell to be too bad or flies are a problem. It's just part of our routine. We're probably being a bit picky in doing it so often but that's just us.

I'll have to look into the DE stuff though. There might be some benefit to it for us if it keeps down parasites. I've not noticed anything out of the ordinary but I'm sure they're probably there.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
It might also help you not have to work so hard cleaning your coop all the time.

I'm probably a bit more of a lazy-bum than you, and i look for the best way to get the job done with the least effort on my part.