Worming with DE

[Lady of McCamley]

Surfing the net I just stumbled onto an article describing a study conducted on the efficacy of DE taken internally for controlling parasites in chickens...ie worms.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21673156/

It's a small study but finally presents some evidence DE might be effective for internal parasites, at least on breeds with low worm resistance.

I've been looking for such studies and this is the first one I've seen.

Maybe there is some hope in using DE for worm control.

Still doesn't answer my concerns on the respiratory risks of using DE. I have read studies and warnings about that. (As an occasional asthma sufferer, I am concerned its continuous use could trigger respiratory problems for hen and man.)

EDITED TO ADD: this publication recognizes the risk of lung irritation, but makes it sound pretty minor, still not sure I want to go there with my risk of asthma http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/degen.html

That publication also notes the importance of keeping DE dry and undisturbed in order for it to do its work. I don't think "dry" is a word we use in Oregon much, so as one previous poster stated, those of us in wet climates will likely not see much benefit for environmental control...for me the answer might be use in coop only, if I can convince myself it won't start flaring up my here to now mild occasional asthma.

Any friendly comments?

Lady of McCamley

FURTHER EDITED TO ADD:
I also found this study done on cattle, http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1381&context=animalscinbcr
It did not find benefit for DE on coccidiosis for cattle (slight improvement was noted in the study with chickens on those who were low-resistant to parasites)...interestingly both studies note more feed consumed...both in chickens and in cattle...the animals needed more feed due to the lack of food energy in the DE they were consuming. (8% loss in feed efficiency in the cattle, however while the chickens ate more, they gained more so the feed efficiency remained the same as the control group.)

I'm glad I'm finally finding some studies on DE. Have no idea why searches haven't turned these studies up before. Magic of the search terms.

 

[Aussie-Chook]

you are so very right i have been using d.e. for years now.. on all my many animals ive had over the years. i always ordered food grade d.e. it has many trace minerals in it that is very benificial to dogs as well as chickens. i am an herbalist and have also saved a many dogs from parvo when the vets gave up. if you would like that recipe ide be glad to give it , please give it to anyone that may need it. connie

I would like the DE recipe for deworming my chickens ... please I have a bag of food grade DE I use to dust coop with deep litter.

Thank you!

 

[ChickenJerk]

There is no internal parasiticide approved by the USDA or FDC for use in hens producing eggs for human consumption. The industry has searched for and researched any and all organic, homeopathic. and black magic methods ever suggested. Diatomaceous Earth has been the subject of more study than all the others put together.
Never has it been found that DE was in any way effective in the control of internal parasites in poultry.
NOT EFFECTIVE- after millions of dollars worth of research and a desperate hope that it would work.

 

[realsis]

I wouldn't trust DE as a wormer personally either. I know we all have our own opinions and that's ok. But personally I don't think it would be a very good wormer and even with food grade I would question how good it would be for then to put in their water. When I first started with chickens I remember buying a lot of food grade DE for bugs and I'd put it in their house and run and I even used a blower to blow it in ALL the cracks and crevices. I remember being very disappointed when I still had bugs and spiders and ants. It never worked very well for me, sadly. I had to use a poultry dust like Seven to rid them. If I could have had success with the DE I would have been very happy because I don't care for chemicals. But for me the results were not very good.so naturally I would question it's effectiveness. There are other natural worming products avaible that I would consider trying but DE is NOT one of them. This is just my opnion from my experience. So let's agree to disagree. I really don't think DE is your best choice. Another point I'd like to make is just because you can't SEE worms in your chickens feces does NOT mean she does not have them. Some eggs are so microscopic you wouldn't see them. The only way to know for sure is with a fecal float. A test for worms. Other wise they just might have them and you can't see the microscopic signs.