Please stop using diatomaceous earth in the coop like it's harmless, I learned the hard way

Iris Henderson · 2026-09-15T11:20:04.677119+00:00

Ngl I dumped DE all over my coop and run for 3 straight days last spring because a buddy swore it was the fix for mites, and by day 4 my 8 hens were sneezing and one had a watery eye I had to flush with saline twice a day. I finally looked it up and the fine dust is brutal on their lungs, plus it does almost nothing once it gets damp, which it always does in the coop. What actually worked was treating the birds directly and scrubbing the roosts, and my hens cleared up in about 10 days. If you're fighting mites or lice, just check what you're breathing into their faces first. Has anyone else had a hen get a respiratory thing from dust in the coop?

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Please stop using diatomaceous earth in the coop like it's harmless, I learned the hard way | Backyard Chicken Keepers - Rigidtalk