*Diatomaceous earth*

[quigybopp]

Have you used or have any info on this?
I have googled up a lot of info already but would like to hear your views and thoughts.

Thanks Luv & light
:happy

[Rinelle]

I haven't used it, but I have heard of people using it. What do you plan to use it for?

[mama_bel]

I use it for cows and G and Immi might have used it with horses and chickens too. I'm still deciding what I think of it. :)

What do you plan to use it for?

[Mercurious]

I think I remember looking it up for cockroaches or termites or something?

[lucylu]

I've used it to treat threadwords in myself! :blinkAnd it works a treat!:yes We are just REALLY careful with it, so that we don't inhale it. Keep it in the shed, store a little bit in a ziplock bag in the kitchen and be careful when getting it out. I used to suffer quite badly with worms, but they seem to be gorn :hyper

I am tempted to use it in my cupboards as I've read you can use it to get rid of silverfish, but I;m a bit wary cos I don't want to breathe it in...on the other hand, I think it is used widely in grain handling so it must be in most things we eat... but probably just a little bit.

I had to buy a 20kg bag from a livestock supplier

[quigybopp]

Well we have a bad flea problem everywhere! At the moment our entire house is covered in sea salt. we are getting organic pest control done Fri. but wanted DE to put in the garden and car floors to treat the flea problem. I know that it's safe to treat our dog with DE and I asked the company I want to buy it from wether its safe for human consumption and they advised against it. I want to take it just in case we do have worms. I also read that is benificial to the immune system as well. After reading info on it I thought i was worth having some as there are so many uses for it. I am getting a 20kg bag to Lucylu :)

[lucylu]

Cool.

I guess it is one of those things, that you have to make your own decisions about. I couldn't find much info on the web regarding ingesting it. But I reasoned that if it was safe enough to add to grain while in storage then it can't be that bad...

I have ingested a fair bit of it - I just stir about a teaspoon in a glass of water (we joke that I need t o drink my dirt). It doesn't taste fantastic, but you could put it in juice or something.

Hope the fleas (and maybe worms) clear off!

[michelle_j_r]

i have nothing to add to this thread but i am bumping it cos i love it when it appears at the top of the page and i can read
"Diatomaceous earth"
mmmm, how good does that word sound! diatomaceous.
i just love the way it rolls around in my head
:)

ETA-
oh, now that i've commented it won't appear at all!!! that was a bad plan!

[mama_bel]

Some people find it hard to say, Chelle, they say "diamond-tacious". I just think of the little diatoms so I don't get tricked.

How often did you take your dirt water, Lu? When I read the directions for humans to take some, it seemed a huge amount, more than a teaspoon. I give quite a bit to our Lucy, but she is a fully grown mama cow! ;)

[lucylu]

Go Lucy!
I took one teaspoon at bedtime like a good little girl! I had to keep stirring it as it would settle. If I felt like being particularly nasty to the wormies, I'd take it in the morning as well. It only took about 1-2 days before they were gone. I guess the lovely diatoms shredded them on the way through. I would keep taking it for about 7-10 days so that any new worms (from eggs) got ripped up too.

Diatoms are the most amazing and beautiful things aren't they?? Mother Nature sure is inspiring!

[quigybopp]

Gee! U girls are a barrel of laughs a minute! I am sitting here in bed reading your posts laughing out loud that my hubby next to me had a sticky beek too! :) LOL. I am a bit worried of giving it to my 2yo. You have to treat the whole family. Was thinking of using DE on the lawns & under the house. And trying a worming remedy from the health food store. It's Rainbow Herbal Worming Mixture. Has anyone tried it? What do ya think of it?

[michelle_j_r]

i don't mind what everyone does with it so long as it keeps popping up on the forum

'Diatomaceous' is possibly my new favourite word. I used to like 'enigmatic'. Shame you can't really use it in a conversation.

[Mercurious]

Fleas have been terrible this year. I treat my dog regularily and have changed treatment to no avail.

[mama_bel]

We used to sprinkle lime everywhere the dog went (garden beds, under the house) when we had fleas at our old place. We have no dog here, and the cats rarely get more than a couple of fleas, so we don't treat for fleas right now. The cows have sulphur powder (yellow stuff) for ticks, I wonder about giving it to other animals for parasites? Something to research.

[lucylu]

i don't mind what everyone does with it so long as it keeps popping up on the forum.He he!! If only it got rid of nits too!!

Mamabel... does the lime get rid of the fleas? Our puppy (nearly 2) hasn't had any until now. He just has a few poor luv. would I just sprinkle his bed? Am loathe to put any on the lawn & garden where he lies as our soil is majorly alkaline anyway and it inhibits uptake of nutrients in our plants. We are alwayss trying to get hte pH down, so seems crazy to put lime in there.

[quigybopp]

Lucylu Where did you source your DE from? There is a company in south bris called Grow natural is that who you used?

[Rinelle]

We sprinkle sulphur and lime (not together) around our chook pen to keep the mites down. Seems to work, though you do have to keep doing it, as they come back.