DE for chicks?

[shandea]

I'm a bit paranoid about bugs, especially with the chicks staying in my house while they're small. I just bought a 50 lb bag of DE. Is this safe to use while they are chicks? If so, how do I use it? I was thinking to just put a little pile in their brooder where they can roll around in it. They loved it when I did this with sand and rolled around for a long time. It seems like this would also absorb the liquid part of their excrement, thereby keeping it cleaner for their little feet.

I clean it at least twice a day, but it never seems to be enough!

Thanks!

 

[Simple Chick]

Shandea-
To ask an ignorant question---
What is DE?

 

[shandea]

Not ignorant... I didn't know till I started reading about chickens.

Diatomaceous Earth... it's a powder that is a natural insecticide, safe to put on animals. It is the fossil remains of diatoms, a type of algae. It kills "ants, boxelder bugs, carpet beetles, crickets, earwigs, flies, mites, silverfish, slugs, snails, ticks, scorpions, almost any insects with a waxy coating will succumb to dehydration when the sharp dagger like points scratch it". It also helps control the odor that chickens cause. And it's totally safe to everything besides the bugs with an exoskeleton.

I've read online that people sprinkle it in the areas where their chickens dust bathe. My question was if it was specifically OK for the babies.

I have researched and can't find anything saying it's harmful, so I'm about to do it.

 

[TheBigWRanch]

I don't see anything wrong with it, if it is food grade DE.