Do you ever feed you goats DE?

[tanyarejoyce]

If so, how much, when, and where do you get it?

[susanne]

there is no benefit is feeding DE.to bee effective it needs to be dry

[LomahAcres]

I get my DE at our grain mill, they special order it for me. Around here it goes by a different name, Red Lake Earth, but it is still the food grade DE. I don't feed it to my girls specifically, I do mix it in with my grain through the summer months to help it keep longer. I will also use it to dust stalls with to keep them dry, or if I just wormed a goat in one.

[Minelson]

I spread it all over the barn, stalls, coop. I get mine from Hoeggers http://hoeggergoatsupply.com/xcart/p...&cat=44&page=1
or Azure
http://www.azurestandard.co/product....false&id=GP009

[bgraham]

I spread it all over the barn, stalls, coop

I do too.

[Backfourty,MI.]

I also use DE in the warm dry months in the barn, stalls & bedding areas. I have never mixed it in feed either.

[susanne]

kristen how much DE do you put in your grain mix? i like the idea having pest control over the summer months

[postroad]

Dead Elephants always started to stink before the goats could finish them!

[hoofinitnorth]

Nope.

Read up on the way it works before you decide if you want that in contact with your goats' soft tissues (and possibly lungs from the dust).

[wisconsin_917]

I am fairly new and most of the time just observe but have a question, are you looking at using this to control parasites? Thank you.

[susanne]

Originally Posted by wisconsin_917

I am fairly new and most of the time just observe but have a question, are you looking at using this to control parasites? Thank you.

i think DE is great to control insect infestation like weevils in the grain.

[Minelson]

It worked on Barn Mites I had last year.

[luvzmybabz]

I use DE on all of my chickens and in all of the bedding chickens goats etc. Of course I will be making people jealous when I say I get it at my local feed strore for 15.95 for a 50 pound bag.

[Corky]

There is DE and then there is DE.
I use the DE we can get around here for my stalls.
I do not have a sourse for pure food grade DE.
I was just told to feed DE to my donkey because it contains many minerals the donkey needs. I never thought of that.
I only thought of the worming aspect of it.
I am going to try to find the food grade around here without having to pay a fortune in shipping.
If I do I will add it to all my critters feed.

[tanyarejoyce]

Originally Posted by wisconsin_917

I am fairly new and most of the time just observe but have a question, are you looking at using this to control parasites? Thank you.

Yes. I have heard that it is effective internally and also its presence in the manure in the field helps deter egg laying insects.

Thank you everyone!

[AnnaS]

DE works on bugs that live in a normal atmosphere, like beetles and weevils. DE is basically a powder of tiny knives. It cuts up the exoskeletons of beetles, maggots or lice and those bugs die of dehyration.

It will probably not work on intestinal worms, which live in a high humidity environment.

DE is known by another name- limestone. Nutritional and chemical compositions may vary.

[powderhooves]

There are two grades....one for insect repellent for use in gardens, etc. The other is food grade used to keep parasites down internally. I use the food grade one and sprinkle a bit on the grain I give in the evenings. I personally think it works.

[Corky]

Originally Posted by AnnaS

DE works on bugs that live in a normal atmosphere, like beetles and weevils. DE is basically a powder of tiny knives. It cuts up the exoskeletons of beetles, maggots or lice and those bugs die of dehyration.

It will probably not work on intestinal worms, which live in a high humidity environment.

DE is known by another name- limestone. Nutritional and chemical compositions may vary.

Sorry...DE is NOT limestone.
I live in limestone country. I have a yard full of the stuff.
DE comes from the sea.

[Corky]

Be very careful in buying DE.
In the organic dept of stores here they sell DE.
It is an insecticide with DE in it. It is NOT pure DE.
I don't know how they get away with that or if the people that stock the shelves are just that ignorant about it.
DO NOT FEED IT TO YOUR ANIMALS UNLESS IT SAYS FOOD GRADE.

[Mrs. Jo]

No DE is not limestone. It is mainly composed of silicone, very tiny sharp fragments. It's very similar to vulcanic ash- super tiny, sharp fragments.

Lots of people can say what they want about it, but I don't believe there has been any good studies on it's use as an internal wormer for goats. So I distrust it's use as a dewormer. I'd rather use something that I know works.

As I said on the rabbit forum, one well known company that makes and sells organic livestock supplements completely removed DE from their products and their warehouses because they found that it binds certain minerals, and there is a significant risk for silicosis if it is inhaled. I would be very careful of the small mammals with tiny amounts of lung space.

That being said, I do use it in areas that have a lot of flies, and in the summer I mix a little in the goats grain and in the bag of BOSS because we have grain moths. It definitely helps with that.