To sand or not to sand????

[Inkheart]

Thanks All!

I just got a breeding trio of Bantam Barred Rocks!

 

[sunshineyarns]

I'm kind of interested in sand too --- all I have read about up until now is the deep litter method. Our run is about 12 by 40 for 8 or so chicks... its grass/dirt/rocks now pre-chickens. We do have a large sandbox at the house that we were thinking of converting to a strawberry patch, so I have a decent chunk of sand already... hmm....

 

[marshallbrown]

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What is DE?

 

[Inkheart]

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What is DE?

From what i know DE helps keep them mite and parasite free -

 

[wegotchickens]

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What is DE?

Diatomaceous Earth, use only the food grade kind. Not the swimming pool kind.

It's a natural element, silica, that slices up bug bodies but leaves soft bodies alone. It just helps keeps petst off the birds. I free-range, so I know the birds pick up mites and lice from songbirds and such. The DE just helps prevent an infestation.

 

[marshallbrown]

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What is DE?

Diatomaceous Earth, use only the food grade kind. Not the swimming pool kind.

It's a natural element, silica, that slices up bug bodies but leaves soft bodies alone. It just helps keeps petst off the birds. I free-range, so I know the birds pick up mites and lice from songbirds and such. The DE just helps prevent an infestation.

Oh! I didnt realize you could get it in a food form. We have test tubes at work that you can use for certain blood tests that contain DE. Thanks for the info!

 

[chicmom]

OH, you've got Bantam Barred Rocks? I have a full sized BR, and I just love her. To me, she's a classic chicken.....

One more thing, I sprinkle Sevin Dust into my sand regularly.....To keep out the undesireable bugs.......

 

[GreenGables]

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What is Sevin Dust? This was a great forum. My DH is building our chickens a new run and here in MA we have
had a lot of water too. We will definitely go with the sand. Thank you everyone.

 

[wowmanacat]

I am glad that I found this post for I was tring to find a way to help keep my coop a bit dryer since it at the base of a hill and all the rain water runs in to it or at least half of it and it is also very hard to keep clean. I just hope I can get DH to help me with the sand after we take about three inch or dirt out of it.

 

[catchthewind]

Quote:
What is DE?

Diatomaceous Earth, use only the food grade kind. Not the swimming pool kind.

It's a natural element, silica, that slices up bug bodies but leaves soft bodies alone. It just helps keeps petst off the birds. I free-range, so I know the birds pick up mites and lice from songbirds and such. The DE just helps prevent an infestation.

Is "feed grade" okay? Our feed store only has that and he told me it's different than "food grade" but fine for chickens. But I want to make sure before I go buying a big bag of it. I know I can get food grade too but it's from a specialty pet store and they only sell it in really small amounts. I'll have to see if there's anywhere I can get bulk food grade up here if feed grade isn't going to cut it.