work with feed store manager for de

[richnchicks]

after buying the wrong de at one feed store who adamently claimed it was 'food grade' de (85% silicon dioxide), i went to another feed store and worked with the manager to get the right de. i had him go to BYC home page and simply type de on the search line at the bottom of the page. i had him follow the links from dawn419 about the right de and he contacted his supplier to get the REAL (food chemical codex grade) de for us. once he saw the info, he was more than happy to help and i didn't have to try to convince him that i knew what i was talking about (he knew i was new to chicks). the store was Waldens in weatherford, tx and i think we will have a long business relationship. my thanks to Clark the manager at Waldens for all his help. maybe others could try this at their local feed store. thanks,rich

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Thanks for posting that Rich!!

IT is great to see that so many things came together to make this happen including the search feature on the home page of BYC, the great DE page Dawn put together, and the wonderful threads and posts by our members.

 

[lynxpilot]

Rich,

I've been a Joel Salatin fan and still am to some degree, but researched DE extensively and found that it may not be what it's cracked up to be. A university ag department did a major study on sheep and cattle to determine what effect it had on parasites and such and there was no detectable difference between using and non-using groups.

I found a supplier in AR that offered food grade and bought a large box, but overall found that it just didn't seem like good business sense. For what you'd need to use, it would raise the cost of livestock significantly.

I could be all wet though. If you're having results with it, then more power to ya.

Dave

 

[richnchicks]

lynxpilot, thanks for the info. i only have 8, 3 1/2 week old chicks and LOTS of fire ants. figured i'd use it on the ant hills since to keep them out with chemicals costs me hundreds a year and 50 lbs of de costs $23.95. i'll use it for the chicks in the coop, etc. for mites and other stuff detrimental to them. don't have any other outside animals. just 2, 7 month old inside only kittens. thanks again, rich

 

[lynxpilot]

Rich,

Just out of curiosity, do you find it does anything at all to the fire ants? We had them really bad when I lived in Pensacola, FL and it seemed like nothing worked short of nuclear weapons. When I lived there, a 1 and 1/2 year old boy accidentally plopped down on a hill and ended up dying from the bites. I can't imagine the agony he went through.

Dave

 

[gittinrdun2356]

just a question on de i have used de from the pool supply store and seems to work great for bugs and flies and i heard it was a good source of grit? some other people had used it before. then i read these articles and says to use food grade de. hmmmm. is there an issue with the other should i be able to eat the birds still .

 

[richnchicks]

lynxpilot, i have been known to sit in a fire ant hill and had no idea i could come out of my clothes that fast! yes, it REALLY hurts! it has been sooo windy here for the last week i haven't had a chance to put any down yet, but will let you know. others have used it and swear by it. i may try both the dry method and mixing it in a sprayer with some dish soap and water. we have scores of hills here so i will try it all.

gittinrdun2356, it will take someone more knowledgable than me to answer that question. don't worry, they are here on this site! thanks, all. rich

 

[flip9109]

gittinrdun2356 Pool grade is toxic contains all sorts of nastyness. Search for dawn419's page on DE. It must say food grade if it going to be eaten by anything. Also it not grit. grit is small (tiny) rocks that birds need to grind food up.

 

[Dawn419]

Quote:
Please check out Wolf Creek Ranch's food grade DE page..."Pool filter grade DE has been heat and chemically treated and will poison an animal or human who ingests it, so it is always of utmost importance to only obtain food grade diatomaceous earth to use in and around your household."

Hope this helps!

Dawn

Edied to add: So glad the Food Grade DE page was able to help you get it locally!!!

 

[jeannebeauchamp]

Have been looking for food grade DE in St Louis Missouri at all the feed store no one seems to know what I am talking about. Is there any chance I could find it someone else like maybe a health food store. If anyone has any ideas my girls would greatly apprecoate it.