DE (food grade?) good or bad

[Chknsmkmehppy]

Quote:

lol

 

[HunterRanch]

Please do not use DE. I use it for myself personally and breathing so much as a small amount in causes an awful cough and lingering irritation. Now imagine you're a chicken surrounded by it, walking on it, bathing in it, etc. It is microscopic fossilized sharp phytoplankton that irritates the lining of the respiratory tract and lungs. That is why it works for insects with exoskeletons..it scrapes them and dehydrates them to death (good for any infestations). As for using it as a dewormed, yes, it can be used as a parasite cleanse when ingested in water (despite previous comment it cannot work when wet). Please trust my personal experience on this. There are alternatives.

 

[shortgrass]

Please do not use DE. I use it for myself personally and breathing so much as a small amount in causes an awful cough and lingering irritation. Now imagine you're a chicken surrounded by it, walking on it, bathing in it, etc. It is microscopic fossilized sharp phytoplankton that irritates the lining of the respiratory tract and lungs. That is why it works for insects with exoskeletons..it scrapes them and dehydrates them to death (good for any infestations). As for using it as a dewormed, yes, it can be used as a parasite cleanse when ingested in water (despite previous comment it cannot work when wet). Please trust my personal experience on this. There are alternatives.

Food grade DE is a safe, natural alternative for organic producers needing pest control without chemicals. I have used it with great success for a long time. It's already in the grain in bagged feed, so you don't really have to add it to the feed; its there already; but adding some to wood ash for dust baths works wonderfully, safer than dirt, because it IS dirt

 

[Michael Apple]

Food grade DE is a safe, natural alternative for organic producers needing pest control without chemicals. I have used it with great success for a long time. It's already in the grain in bagged feed, so you don't really have to add it to the feed; its there already; but adding some to wood ash for dust baths works wonderfully, safer than dirt, because it IS dirt

And the only purpose is to resist molds in feed by keeping it drier, thus a longer shelf life. Despite the marketing clap-trap with DE, it will not be effective against any internal parasite, and sure is bad to breathe when it turns to powder. It makes for a cheap filler with no nutritional purpose. If one wants fresh feed, look at the mill date on the tag before you buy it.

 

[southernhusky]

DE will definitely deworm dogs. I can confirm this from actual experience. I love the stuff.

It is basically microscopic glass that "slices" through exo-skeletons and I guess gooey worm skin. It comes out like it goes in and if you've ever fed a dog this(up to 2% mixed on food is the max) then you really can appreciate it(ever seen flies flock to dog poo...well they don't if DE comes out with it).

I have only found 2 downsides with it....

I really consider it a miracle powder and have been raising dogs for years. Yes its bad to breath for anything, I don't wear gloves/mask even though its recommended on the bag, I just make sure not to stick my nose where I'm spreading it or hold my breath, yes it will cloud. And it does dehydrate to some extent, so your pet will drink more water, make sure clean, fresh water is available. I spread this all over my house to keep ants/roaches that love to find cracks. It is also a great odor killer & you will notice a difference immediately! I've heard it doesn't work when wet which would make you think it wouldn't work as a dewormer BUT I believe that it just makes it harder to stick to bugs that walk through it when applied to the ground or plants. If its not slicing thru their exo skeleton its not going to kill the bug by drying it out. Inside us however it should still "slice" thru parasites, worms or unlodge them from wherever they are attached inside intestines I would imagine so I can understand why it should work.

I personally will swear by it and yes I will eat it myself(1-2 tablespoons a day). Its also been known to lower cholesterol and high blood pressure. I could confirm that if I can ever get my Dad to eat some regularly, he has those issues.

Its $16-$20 for a 40lb bag at tractor supply, it doesn't take much. Try it yourself and decide if you like it. I'm not saying its best for chickens, I'm new to chickens. But I see no reason why not to try it.

 

[Lynn Manes]

DE will definitely deworm dogs. I can confirm this from actual experience. I love the stuff.

It is basically microscopic glass that "slices" through exo-skeletons and I guess gooey worm skin. It comes out like it goes in and if you've ever fed a dog this(up to 2% mixed on food is the max) then you really can appreciate it(ever seen flies flock to dog poo...well they don't if DE comes out with it).

I have only found 2 downsides with it....

I really consider it a miracle powder and have been raising dogs for years. Yes its bad to breath for anything, I don't wear gloves/mask even though its recommended on the bag, I just make sure not to stick my nose where I'm spreading it or hold my breath, yes it will cloud. And it does dehydrate to some extent, so your pet will drink more water, make sure clean, fresh water is available.  I spread this all over my house to keep ants/roaches that love to find cracks. It is also a great odor killer & you will notice a difference immediately! I've heard it doesn't work when wet which would make you think it wouldn't work as a dewormer BUT I believe that it just makes it harder to stick to bugs that walk through it when applied to the ground or plants. If its not slicing thru their exo skeleton its not going to kill the bug by drying it out. Inside us however it should still "slice" thru parasites, worms or unlodge them from wherever they are attached inside intestines I would imagine so I can understand why it should work.

I personally will swear by it and yes I will eat it myself(1-2 tablespoons a day). Its also been known to lower cholesterol and high blood pressure. I could confirm that if I can ever get my Dad to eat some regularly, he has those issues.

Its $16-$20 for a 40lb bag at tractor supply, it doesn't take much. Try it yourself and decide if you like it. I'm not saying its best for chickens, I'm new to chickens. But I see no reason why not to try it.

I put it in my quail and chickens dust baths. I use mostly peat moss with play sand and a very small amt of DE. I do not breathe it in. I've accidentally done that before and was sick from it. Sometimes but not often I'll put a small bit in the chickens nest boxes mixed in the straw beds there too. Like you said it takes very little. I have been using sprigs of fresh rosemary all around my duck & quail pens and chicken coop to abate flies which we have very badly here. It doesn't eliminate them completely but as long as the rosemary is fresh it help and smells good too. Luckily we have a giant rosemary bush

 

[southernhusky]

Well so far I've been using DE dust for a week in pine pellet bedding for chicks 10 days old(shipped to me so added stress). No issues at all from using the DE, throughout the day I'll add an extra small layer of piellets and change their water(they love throwing bedding in). Several have really dug down and taken a dust bath...and gotten covered in pine dust... had some pasty butt(8-10 out of 30 chicks) the first few days and I wiped down their booties/swabbed oil once a day for two days and added poultry nutri-drench. It looks like every one cleared up. Still doing the drench in water in the morning and then giving fresh plain water late afternoon

I read you could add corn meal for pasty butt(and my grandmother bought me some "self-rising, enriched) but I haven't confirmed thats safe to give & it seemed to clear up so I haven't offered(did feed them smooshed boil eggs yesterday). I also bought a bag of grit planning to give but it says 8 weeks plus and larger chunks which I didn't realize until I got home but I guess I can give that to my older babies(6-9 weeks?)

 

[AVAZQUEZ]

what do lice look like on a chicken? and how would you know they have them? do they scratch themselves? **newbie here** lol

 

[Eggcessive]

what do lice look like on a chicken? and how would you know they have them? do they scratch themselves? **newbie here** lol

Welcome to BYC. It helps to start a new thread of your own, especially when posting on an old thread, but here is a good link to read with pictures and info:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html

 

[casportpony]

what do lice look like on a chicken? and how would you know they have them? do they scratch themselves? **newbie here** lol

Welcome to BYC!
If you find lice or mites you will want to get some permethrin dust or spray to treat them because DE does not treat lice or mites.