Mine loved it. It creates an unsightly amount of dust, though; so you might want to wait until they are moved outside (assuming they are inside) until you give it to them. Mine like to dust bathe in their sand and it doesn't create hardly any dust.
I'm not kidding when I say DE creates an unsightly amount of dust. Everything around the brooder will have a thick layer of DE dust on it within hours of putting it in. I'm just trying to emphasize that in case you have, say, your homework sitting next to the brooder... Not that I would know anything about that from personal experience or anything... I've just heard.
Were you afraid the chicks had mites or fleas in the brooder?
After the chickens are outside, you can put DE in the sandbox in the coop that they use for a dust bath. The DE can control mites and fleas.
