Using Food Grade DE

[JeninMN]

Ok...I have to know...this has been a confusing subject for me.

I plan to pick some of this up tonight for using when I have the coop cleaned tonight.

What exactly is it that you all use the DE for?

It is completely safe to have around the chickens apparently? I can even dust them with it?

Do I want a layer of it on the floor or just a dusting all over the place?

Thank you!

Jen in MN

 

[ghillie]

I have never used it to dust the birds. I put some in their feed, spinkle some in their favorite dusting spots and sprinkle on the carpet I keep in the nest boxes

 

[Wifezilla]

I use deep litter. Before i put in new shavings, I sprinkle a layer of DE first to help keep bugs down.

 

[Agape Builder]

DE is completely safe to use generously around the chickens. The only caveat is primarily for you. If you have asthma or COPD, be careful about breathing in the dust and perhaps wear a dust mask because the dry DE powder can make a cloud of silica dust that is not the best for breathing in, just like lime dust or cement dust.

Hopefully, you got USDA Food Grade DE. If not, then STOP! ONLY use FOOD GRADE DE. The variety used by pool supply companies for usage in pool filters contains some other chemicals and will poison your chickens.

So, if you have food grade DE, it is used both internally and externally to rid the birds for parasites. Mixing 5% DE into their food regularly keeps the birds free of all intestinal parasites and worms and also provides hen with an excellent source of calcium for strong egg shells.

Rubbing it well into their feathers down to the skin kills all external parasites such as fleas, ticks, and mites. The birds love to dust bathe in it. Make a dust box with DE and Play Sand mixed 50/50.

Dusting all of the nest boxes keep them free from fleas and mites and encourage hens to lay there rather than driving them off the nests because of the pests that love the bedding.

Sprinkling / dusting the rest of the coop and runs kill the parasitic pests and other like fire ants and slugs, but also kills fly maggots, and acts as a deodorizer, reducing chicken poo smells dramatically and reducing fly activity substantially. It also acts as a moisture absorbent to help keep things dry.

The bottom line is to use the FOOD GRADE DE almost everywhere since it is great for chickens both internally and externally. The great thing about it is that it contains no chemicals at all, only the silica shells of fossilized diatom algae.

By the way, you can use it in your garden to kill pests in the same manner as Sevin dust, just minus the chemicals. Just be careful about usage in areas where honeybees frequent because DE can kill honeybes as well. Outside, you have to reapply DE after heavy rains. Heavy rains can wash the DE off of the leaves of veggies that you sprinkle it on. It also works great sprinkled on fire ant hills!

Hope this helps.

 

[Mahlzeit]

Quote:
I've read posts here and there about DE picking up tidbits of info. But this post just told me everything I need to know about it. Thanks so much Agape Builder. Now I just need to figure out where I can get it.

 

[sianara]

I spent 3 months searching my central MA area for feed grade DE and finally found it somewhat locally (an hours drive, but it's a nice country drive

). It is well worth the effort to search in your area. I started calling all the feed stores within 30 miles of my house and then I started asking them if they knew of any feed stores that might carry it. Then I called lots of gardening areas and asked them if they knew of any garden stores that might carry it and so on.

When I took my drive to pick it up I got two 50lb bags for $26 each. This will probably last me a year or so so it was worth the drive for me. I might even go back in another month or so and get more and just stock up on it. I think as long as it's kept in a dry place it should last indefinitely. I'm not sure but I think exposing it to water/rain might make it clump. It seems I read this somewhere but I could be wrong but would rather err on the side of caution.

So, start researching locally. There are many places on line you can get it but it is very, very expensive. It cost me as much to have 2 pounds shipped as it did to pick up a 50 lb bag.

ETA: I should have mentioned the name of the feed store where I found it in my original response (duh!) but I didn't. Anyway, here it is:

Horse & Buggy Feeds
310 School St
Winchendon, MA
978-297-2518

 

[Mahlzeit]

Quote:
Thanks a lot.

 

[JewellFarm]

Jen check this site out. Lots of info and uses.

http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/defaq.html

 

[Big C]

We use a liberal dusting when we clean the coops before new straw/hay/etc...
also dust the roosts, nests under waterers and feeders
mix with feed
mix with scratch

Never had a problem with mites or flies

 

[JeninMN]

I called Fleet Farm here where I live and made sure it was the Food Grade DE that I would be picking up...they said that was all they had.

I got out to pick it up last night and I dont see anywhere on the bag where it actually says " Food Grade" however it says it is for use for Poultry, Cows and Swine in their food. So...they didnt' have any other kind and I assumed that it is in fact the food grade being as that is what it is talking about on the bag?

40 lb bag cost $11.96

By the time I got home my back was bad again from lifting the DE, Feed, bedding etc so I didn't get it done last night but plan to do it tonight..

Does this sound like its the right kind of DE based on the info I got off of the bag?

Thank you SO much for all the info thus far, now I feel comfortable using it!!

Jen