Hello chicken keepers!
It’s the height of mite and lice season, but if you’re living in fear of these pesky pests, let me introduce you to my secret weapon - diatomaceous earth (pronounced dye-ah-toe-may-shus). DE is made of teeny-tiny fragments of fossilised algae. To people and chooks it looks an awful lot like simple dirt, but for parasites it spells d-a-n-g-e-r! In this weekend’s Mother Hen Tips, I’ll explain how you can make the most out of your bag:
- Set up a no-pest-zone in their coop! Just sprinkle your diatomaceous earth around the coop every time you clean to turn mites and lice away at the door. I also use it to protect my garden beds!
- Supercharge their dust-bathing! Layer DE in their dust-bathing area and your chooks will take care of themselves.
- Treat their tummies! Not only does DE contain a variety of essential minerals, it also helps to clean the intestinal tract, and creates an inhospitable environment for worms and other parasites. Win-win-win!
- Fight the parasites! At the first wriggly sign of mites or lice, break out the DE and dust everything (including the girls!).
In fact, it's so easy to treat your ladies with this wonder that even junior keepers are getting involved. Have a peck at this:
Diatomaceous earth has saved me huge amounts of time in battling parasites, letting me spend quality time with the chooks instead :) Give it a go!
After some more cheeky chook action? Join our communities on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest!
Feathers Forever,
Kassandra x
