I use DE in my coop in their run and where they like to dust bathe. In the pine shavings in their coop I sprinkle FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous Earth (DE) on the shavings. Also my roosts in one of my coop are over wire which allows the poop through and I sprinkle the DE over the poop too. The pine shavings are on the floor in the rest of the coop. Monthly I add some shavings and weekly I add DE. Once in awhile I throw some scratch on the shaving with the DE and let the chickens mix it up. They do a very good job. I have no problems with fleas, flies, mites, lice, stink and such. My pine shavings stay nice and dry easy to clean out. My other coop does not have a poop pit and I have to clean it out more often. When I build my new coop since most of the poop seems to accumulate under the roosts I'm going to put poop catch pans under the roosts with pine shavings and DE in them and eliminate the poop pit. I do compost my shavings with the poop.
