How many of you guys use DE,and how do you use it? I sprinkle it on the coop floor/nestboxs/roosts than put the bedding down,than I sprinkle some in there feed. It helps get intestinal parasites/mites/ticks/fleas/lice/ants/and other little crawlers. If any of you never used it before definitely check it out.
That's basically how I use it but especially on roosts, nest boxes and in all the nooks and crannies that I can't clean.
Mmmmm, nope, I don't think so..... DE is ineffective once wet as it kills insects mainly by desiccation. It is put in many livestock feeds to kill any insect pests that may be in the feed while it is being stored. It should work good in the 'nooks and crannies' of any part of the coop structure that stays dry tho, that's where I use it. Make sure you get 100% DE that is food grade.....there are some DE products that are mostly bentonite clay. Learned the clay lesson expensively, best place I've found to get it is a a real feed mill where they use it in bulk mixing feeds and it's only about a buck a pound.
No it does help rid intestinal worms in animals,such as this vetinfo page says in the ''Administration'' part of the article http://www.vetinfo.com/using-diatomaceous-earth-to-worm-pets.html
The jury is actually still out on this, at least from a scientific consensus point of view. Two of the largest studies (North Carolina and the UK) failed to gather conclusive results regarding treatment in large animals. This is actually near and dear to me since my farm participated in a federally funded study of Hereford cattle. Our study failed to produce lower fecal egg counts, and actually the worm load in the DE group was higher than that of our chemically wormed herd and the control group at the end of the study. Of course this is large animal stock and not chickens. But from my experience, DE has not kept my flock from getting round worms. I have never treated my flock chemically, but then last week I had shedded round worms on the dropping boards. So I'm now on a Valbazen/safe Guard worming cycle. If it works for you that's great, everyone's husbandry techniques differ. http://www.sheepandgoat.com/articles/DE.html
Food grade DE is sold as an anti-caking agent all other uses are used on your own interpretations and not backed up by the manufacturer or the FDA. http://www.redlakeearth.com/red-lake-diatomaceous-earth-us.html