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Barnyard Buddies:  Use of Diatomatious Earth  |
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crittergranny
True Blue Farmgirl
1096 Posts
Laura
Lindrith
NM
USA
1096 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 29 2012 : 5:33:56 PM
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Ok ladies,
I figured you were the ones I could get good info from. I used to use DE years ago for my goats and one of them died. I don't really think it had anything to do with the DE but some time later I was at a workshop on horse health and I asked the vet about using DE as opposed to some wormers and he jumped down my throat and told me that it probably was what killed my goat. Well ever since then I have been somewhat apprehensive to use it. So my question to you ladies is do any of you use DE for horses or goats or chickens (of course I know some of you do) or if any of you are opposed to using it? I would be so grateful for your input and advice and sharing of your experiences. I do understand what it is and that we are not talking about the swimming pool kind. Really I used to be pretty knowledgable on it but this guy made me have doubts about the safety of it. He said it isn't approved and we don't know what it could do.
Laura
Horse poor in the boonies.
www.nmbarrelhorses.com |
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queenmushroom
True Blue Farmgirl
985 Posts
Lorena
Centerville
Me
USA
985 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2012 : 05:22:23 AM
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I've never heard of using details as a dewormer. If you're looking for something more natural, try using chewing tobacco like the old timers did. A close friend of mine gives it to her horses on a weekly basis. It's sweet and they'll eat it with no problem. I thither she gets it loose and gives them a large pinch.
Patience is worth a bushel of brains...from a chinese fortune cookie |
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queenmushroom
True Blue Farmgirl
985 Posts
Lorena
Centerville
Me
USA
985 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2012 : 05:25:36 AM
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I meant to say de not details. Darn android.
Patience is worth a bushel of brains...from a chinese fortune cookie |
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RedHoopWoman
True Blue Farmgirl
513 Posts
Kathryn
Yoder
Colorado
USA
513 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2012 : 12:50:27 PM
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Well,I know alot of natural goat keepers use DE,one gal I know uses it in combination with Hoegger's herbal dewormer and her goats are healthy and have been on it for years.
There's alot of people use it for thier chickens,horses,etc..I did read an article in Backyard Poultry years ago warning about the use of DE but then alot of people wrote in after saying they had used it for years without any problems.
Goats can croak from all kinds of things,unless you had a necropsy done I wouldn't take anyone seriously who conjectures about what killed your goat or refers to it as being any one absolute thing that killed it,my Vet won't ever speculate on a cause of death unless he's examined the animal thoroughly enough to have good evidence,if this vet you spoke to didn't actually examine the animal before or after it's death I wouldn't take any such speculation very seriously.
Anyways,that probably doesn't answer your question very well about the safety of DE,I just wanted to point out that there's no way of knowing if that was what killed your goat or not but if I were to speculate I would say it probably wasn't,so many people use it and I don't hear very much about those people's animals dropping dead from it,as widespread as it is used I would think we would.
"Today's Mighty Oak is just Yesterday's Nut"
Nostalgic Needleworks http://www.etsy.com/shop/NostalgicNeedleworks |
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Lessie Louise
True Blue Farmgirl
1406 Posts
Carol
PECULIAR
MO
USA
1406 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2012 : 3:11:08 PM
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I use it in my coop a few times a year and have never had a problem. I use it very sparingly.
....it's what's inside a women, when she's up against the land.
Farmgirl #680!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lessielouise22 |
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queenmushroom
True Blue Farmgirl
985 Posts
Lorena
Centerville
Me
USA
985 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2012 : 5:12:17 PM
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I think I'm horses, I'd be worried about sand colic from the de.
Patience is worth a bushel of brains...from a chinese fortune cookie |
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SandraM
True Blue Farmgirl
295 Posts
Sandra
Coldwater
Michigan
USA
295 Posts |
Posted - Oct 01 2012 : 05:04:33 AM
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We have used it. It didn't work as a dewormer. But I have heard that it has other benefits and may help with worm problems.
We are not using it anymore.
I would be surprised if it what killed your goat.
The only way I can see that happnening is if you used it soley as a dewormer and you goats had worm problems.
Sandra
www.mittenstatesheepandwool.com |
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crittergranny
True Blue Farmgirl
1096 Posts
Laura
Lindrith
NM
USA
1096 Posts |
Posted - Oct 01 2012 : 05:09:25 AM
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I sprinkle it around in the chicken house too Carol. Good points ladies. Yes Lorena sand colic, the scourge of life around here. I have to fight it all the time cause of all the sand in our area. I lost a horse last year from a dang boulder that was in her gut. It had grown in there sort of like a pearl grows in an oyster. She would have had it for years and I only had her for a couple of months. She came from Arizona originally. She was anemic all the time and come to find out that was why. As for the chewing tobacco I have heard of that being effective. I don't mind using ivermectin on the horses. We have 20 on the place and I just do it all at once. I was more interested in using it for the goats and chickens and maybe the horses to keep fly population down. But I really don't let the poo stay around, we clean it up and haul it all off every day. We have a poo pile like a mountain out back in the woods...lol. Thank you for sharing....more please?
Laura
Horse poor in the boonies.
www.nmbarrelhorses.com |
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queenmushroom
True Blue Farmgirl
985 Posts
Lorena
Centerville
Me
USA
985 Posts |
Posted - Oct 01 2012 : 6:27:23 PM
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Fly population ...beneficial fly larvae???
Patience is worth a bushel of brains...from a chinese fortune cookie |
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crittergranny
True Blue Farmgirl
1096 Posts
Laura
Lindrith
NM
USA
1096 Posts |
Posted - Oct 02 2012 : 09:20:32 AM
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Yes I have heard of those Lorena. Every year I get a brochure and consider it but don't get around to it...lol. Maybe next spring.
Laura
Horse poor in the boonies.
www.nmbarrelhorses.com |
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sherrye
True Blue Farmgirl
3775 Posts
sherry
bend in the high desert
oregon
USA
3775 Posts |
Posted - Oct 03 2012 : 07:28:42 AM
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howdy farmgirls, D.E. is a fossil shell. if you look at it under a microscope it looks like jagged saw blades. since it is a shell it does not dissolve. it feels like talcum powder to us. there is said to be miles of this stuff being harvested. when fed it cuts the egg larvae up and they die. when the animal poops it goes into the manure. it stays in there. when flies lay eggs in the poop the larvae are killed when hatching. so i find it beneficial for worms and flies. i use it in my coops and barns all the time. we feed it to our stock including dogs. as it passes through the digestive tract it cuts the eggs etc. to death. you must not breath it while applying. i have rubbed it on our pigs when they first came here to be sure they had no parasites riding on a pigs back. i use it in my garden too for bugs and aphid type critters just a thought or two. i buy food grade. happy days to you sherry
the learn as we go silk purse farm
farm girl #1014
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queenmushroom
True Blue Farmgirl
985 Posts
Lorena
Centerville
Me
USA
985 Posts |
Posted - Oct 03 2012 : 08:01:31 AM
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But that being said with sharp jagged edges, what is it doing to your animals gut? Birds naturally eat grit to aid in digestion. I'd rather feed chewing tobacco.
Patience is worth a bushel of brains...from a chinese fortune cookie |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Oct 03 2012 : 08:31:36 AM
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There is food grade DE to use for internal parasites. But it has to be food grade. The other can be used on the ground to control mites and bugs and stuff. But food grade can be used if they will be ingesting it.
Kris
Happiness is simple.
www.kris-outbackfarm.blogspot.com |
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queenmushroom
True Blue Farmgirl
985 Posts
Lorena
Centerville
Me
USA
985 Posts |
Posted - Oct 03 2012 : 11:55:41 AM
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Thank you for the clarification. I didn't know there were 2 grades of it. Personally, I still wouldn't risk it. But that is me.
Patience is worth a bushel of brains...from a chinese fortune cookie |
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sherrye
True Blue Farmgirl
3775 Posts
sherry
bend in the high desert
oregon
USA
3775 Posts |
Posted - Oct 03 2012 : 9:21:37 PM
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chewing tobacco causes cancer. d.e. does not have a jagged effect on the internal organs. bugs have a thinner skin and larvae are soft and wiggley. baseball players died from chew. one is a shell the other is a toxic chemical. this is just my humble opinion and organic gardenings view.
the learn as we go silk purse farm
farm girl #1014
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sherrye
True Blue Farmgirl
3775 Posts
sherry
bend in the high desert
oregon
USA
3775 Posts |
Posted - Oct 03 2012 : 9:23:16 PM
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i agree with kris on food grade is the best. the other is used for filtering pools.
the learn as we go silk purse farm
farm girl #1014
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Barnyard Buddies: Use of Diatomatious Earth |
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Use of Diatomatious Earth
