Stall dry? Is it safe?

[nccountrygirl]

Custom Milling out of Ga. has the best price out there. I by mine from there. I get 50#'s for 46.56 that's with shipping and delivered to my door in 2 business days. They have great customer service too.




Diatomaceous Earth
Food Grade DE
Diatomaceous Earth or DE for short, is the fossilized remains of the diatom, a single celled aquatic plant that lived some 20 million years ago. The remains of the diatoms formed deposits of diatomite in sedimentary layers. It is found in various dry lake bed deposits which were formed anciently from the skeletons of millions of microscopic diatoms as they died and fell to the bottom of the lake or sea bed. It is dug out of the ground and mined in different parts of the world.

Diatomaceous earth is used in a wide range of industrial applications. Industrial grade DE is used in swimming pool filters and is not suitable for home use. The industrial DE has been put through a process which has been heated to extremely high temperatures and even though it looks the same it is like glass. The food grade is widely used as an anticaking agent in prepared feed mixes. Custom Milling, Inc uses DE in all of our feed formulas. The FDA has not approved DE as an internal parasite control, but it has approved it for animal consumption.

Many farmers use DE in their grain bins ( about 7 lbs/ton of grain) When weevil eggs hatch out and the larvae come in contact with DE they dehydrate. Diatomaceous Earth will dehydrate any soft bodied insect or insect larva. Many people use it as a garden dust. Many of your chemical garden dust products have an inert ingredient in it. The inert ingredient is usually Diatomaceous Earth. The best way to use it is early in the morning when the leaves are wet. You can use a duster or you can use an old pair of panty hose and dust the leaves good. You can also protect fruit trees by sprinkling DE around the base and by making a solution with water and soap and painting the tree trunk. This creates a protective buffer zone against migration of Japanese beetles and other insects.

You can dust your animals with it to control fleas, ticks, mites and other parasites

25 lb bag $15.95 50 lb bag $23.95+ shipping

ORDER NOW - Call toll free: 1-877-348-3048

 

[SusanJoM]

Quote:
I'm not going to argue with you.
I don't think you read the reference I posted.

I don't know enough about Stall Dry to trust it. Spatcher seems to think it's fine. Others seem to think it's fine. I'm not risking it.

I'm not going to try to convince anyone about this anymore.
Do with your chickens what you want.

I'm just not willing to risk mine.


Susan

 

[ebonykawai]

I don't think the issue is people "willing to take a risk." I think the issue is that many, MANY people cannot find DE for a reasonable price, especially if they have to have it shipped. One person posted that they can get it for $48 shipped. Unfortunately, it's all about location. If I add it to my cart and get a total, it's about $60. That's a lot of money for people to spend on something that is not necessary to keep their livestock alive, eg. food. If people find something similar that others have used for years with no problems, then DE supporters really have no right to say we're "taking a risk". You really don't know that for a fact, do you??

 

[curliet]

It seemed that it might be a good idea not post again to this thread, as it's becoming a bit heated. But I do want to say that after talking to farming neighbors and vets, I did purchase some of the agricutlural grade hydrated lime. I put it on the floor of the coop, and then put my pine shavings over it. Since then have added more shavings and tossed them around a little with my fork. So far my coop seems very dry and NOT SMELLY. However, I have to admit that I did notice that the stuff is pretty caustic, and in one spot where some accidentally dropped into a little pile, the chickens walked in it, ran outside and then wouldn't come near it again. While that's not a good thing to happen inside the coop, I can see that there are some places in the yard around the coop where that might be a good thing to deter the chickens from going into certain areas. Now, I've been reading the other remarks in the thread, and do agree that organic or natural would be a wonderful way to go. And that the food grade DE is a really great product. We can't afford it. As ebonykawai stated, paying for food grade DE would take a lot of money that could go towards things like feed, or even food for the table, or paying bills. Our chickens are important, but are not our livelihood, nor are they our children or our pets. They are farm animals that we really like. So, I read the charts and safety info that was posted. I read the remarks that other members have made. I corresponded by email with wildchicken, and decided to pick up a bag of Stall Dry. From what I can see, it's extremely close to the DE, it's affordable, (I paid $14.99 for 40 pounds) and I can drive for 15 minutes to a place that handles it. Thanks again to all of you for making this info available so that I could make a reasonable choice. And please understand that this post isn't an attempt to argue, but just to give you the details of what I've done and learned. It's what this board is all about, right? And, SusanJoM, I do appreciate all the effort that you went thru to show me the facts about the DE. I know that you want the best for all of us.

 

[spatcher]

I just reread this post and and may have been misunderstood somehow. Bottom line - non-food grade is DEADLY to living creatures and man!!!!! I cannot emphasize that enough. It is processed differently than the food grade and contains about 65% of crystalline silica that can literally destroy your lungs. I cannot speak for "stall dry" or any of the other products mentioned, other than DE, because I have never used them! If I gave the impression that any other product was safe it was because someone said in a post "that it contained food grade DE"! If it in fact contains food grade DE, then it is safe! You have to ensure it is food grade! Where the pool grade DE has 65% of crystalline silica, PermaGuard Codex Food Grade DE (which I sell in smaller amounts) contains one half of one percent crystalline silica and is FDA approved! My chickens, dogs and I consume it on a daily basis! I hope I have cleared up any misconceptions on my part

 

[SusanJoM]

Please let me apologize if I insulted anyone here. That was not my intention. I do understand that choices have to be made based on financial realities. I did feel briefly as if I were being asked to say something was fine for the chickens when in fact to my mind it hadn't been proven to be fine. I was trying not to get into that position.

My intention was only (ONLY!!!!) to be sure that everyone who wanted the information had access to the facts that I thought I had found important in making the choices.

For any other "stuff" I am very sorry. I really didn't mean to hurt any feelings.

Susan

 

[spatcher]

Speaking for myself Susan, I dont think anyone was upset. I think everyone is going to use what they are comfortable with and they are not going to let anyone talk them out of it. If they make a mistake then they have to live with it and if something works for them, more power to them. If you were worried about someone being upset, dont be!

 

[curliet]

Quote:
Exactly!!!

 

[SusanJoM]

Okay then,.....
thanks for letting me off the hook.

Susan

 

[jennjenn6]

Thanks everyone!
I haven't been able to find the Sweet PDZ? What is it made of ?

I just remember hearing some discussion about food grade DE and the pool kind. The farm store guy laughed at me and said there was no difference and that regular DE was fine for poultry? Seemed contrary to what I've been hearing on this list.

We only have 5 chickens, more like pets than anything, and kids that are constantly holding birds and playing in coops and runs so we want to be extra safe . The more natural the better.

So the dry stall and sweet PDZ are okay to eat?

I know this is a bit of an older thread, but I can't seem to find a definitive answer on this. I was at Coastal (farm/tractor store here in Oregon) and I asked for the sweet PDZ. I was told that it's cheaper to buy a bag of Stall dry and it works good. So I drove up around back and they loaded it. When I got it home I saw that there was every animal EXCEPT for a chicken listed on there. It is Absorbent Products LTD and it says that it's OMRI listed. Does this mean it's ok to use out in the run? I have the food grade DE (made by the same company) that I use in the coop right now. I just don't want to hurt them by putting this out! Has anyone used this particular brand and been ok? http://www.absorbentproductsltd.com/