It is interesting that it will not harm earthworms, but will kill internal worms. Hmmmm......

Horse Journal doesn't have any advertising. It's something of a consumers report for horse owners.

Rocky ...maybe the reason that horsejournal doesn't recommend it is the chemical wormers are advertisers...just a thought...

DE - Diatomaceous Earth Diatomaceous earth is a product that has been used for at least 50 years to control insects in dry environments, fed to animals to rid internal parasites and serve as a natural trace mineral amendment to pet and livestock food. It also works as an internal detox material for animals. The research on diatomaceous earth we currently have goes back many years. One particular research project very carefully proved that diatomaceous earth does not hurt earthworms in the soil. The apparent reason for the research was to try to come up with a negative – to show that DE would hurt the life in the soil. It didn’t prove one so the research was for the most part shelved and ignored. The second research I’ve discovered covers whether DE has any detrimental effects on animals being fed natural diatomaceous earth at 2% on their rations. The last one we have about feeding natural diatomaceous earth to goats and their kids at Prairie View A&M College. The abstract of these trials, which is on our website www.dirtdoctor.com, proved that not only did it not hurt animals but it functioned as well as or better than the chemical wormers also used in the trials. For some reason doing the final report of this study was never done but the abstract does exist. The reason little was ever done with results of this test is that those funding the research, the chemical companies, didn’t like the results.

I started using diatomaceous earth last summer here in TX. I have not fed it to my dogs yet though. But just spread it around the house and around the yard. I don't remember exatcly how long to leave it in the house but if you sprinkle it on the carpet - let it sit and then vacuum it up you will kill alot of fleas as well. A small bag goes along way (it really expands when opened).

Horse Journal does not recommend DE as a horse wormer. As I understand it there are no tests showing it works and as mentioned earlier it loses its properties when wet.

Ima I will check with the Perma Guard President and let you know if the red earth DE is what you want to use.....

Has anyone heard of, and or used the "Red Earth" DE? The ppl that supply my feed store with the DE, changed thier suppliers, so I can no longer get the Perma guard Food Grade DE. They now carry "Red Earth" DE, and looks like a hand full of fine ground reddish clay/dirt. The bag does show it is for animal use... but I would hate to give my horses Sand Colic. Thanks, Sandra

Anyone wanting info on how much to feed and other info on DE pls email me at posserider59@hotmail.com....I dropped my membership for awhile....had some messages and some members wanting info....when I came back in the messages were deleted out of my inbox...thanks Frank

Just a note on pest control. If you decide to use this method to control insects in your yard....you do need to re-apply after rains. I have noticed a few more fleas on my dogs since we had big rains last week. I re-applied tonight so I'm interested in seeing how long it will take them to die down again.