scratching cow: Diatomaceous Earth?

[smallfarmers]

hej!

sorry for posting in English – please reply/comment in Swedish if you like.

our cow is scratching more and more – she may have lice.

we heard about Eprinex. its publicity tells it works great, but it's chemical. it's expensive too. on top of that, the pharmacy tells we need a veterinary prescription ...

we think of using canola oil (=rapsolja) and/or soap. both should work too. but we also heard of Diatomaceous Earth (DE).

- does anyone, reading this, have positive experience with DE to get rid of external parasites on a cow?

- where to buy DE? it costs almost nothing, on eBay for example, but, because of the high postage costs, I'm wondering where to find it in Sweden ...

PS: the chickens are living right next to the cow, and are scratching too. so far I found no scientific evidence that cow and chickens can infest each other. is there any biologist amongst you?



thanks!