Bug spray and chickens??

[Dace]

Our ant problem is not going away.

From what I have been able to figure out we have ant colonies underground on the property and the ones that are getting into the house are the scouts. I keep them pretty well cleaned up... otherwise they would be sending in the troops!

Exterminator wants a couple hundred dollars to come spray the outside and put gel traps in the inside. I can do that

My chickens get out once in a while when they are not supposed to and we usually let them out in the evening to run around and eat bugs.

CAN I spray the perimeter of the house? Should I use a liquid spray or dust?
What is the safest product to use with the chickens around?

 

[VT-Chicklit]

I am not sure about the sprays but I was wondering if you have tried boiling water. I have used a gallon of boiling water, poured into an ants nest that I have partially opened with a trowel. has worked well for me. I read somewhere (not sure where), that ants dont like to be around their dead, so those that you dont get, move.

 

[Frosting]

I am not sure about the sprays but I was wondering if you have tried boiling water. I have used a gallon of boiling water, poured into an ants nest that I have partially opened with a trowel. has worked well for me. I read somewhere (not sure where), that ants dont like to be around their dead, so those that you dont get, move.

I'll have to try that idea--Natural and cheaper than the commercial products!

I have used Sevin on ant hills with success. Some use it to dust chickens so I would imagine it's safe for them.

 

[2dream]

Dace - sounds like your part of the world is like mine. I think I sit on one giant ant colony.

We use Spectracide in the big orange bag. Nothing works completely. Ants and roaches will be here long after we are gone.
Control might be the best you can hope for.

As far as being safe around chickens - I am not sure. My chickens have never eaten any but that does not mean they won't. For me I have to pick my priorties and go with survival of the smartest.

I can not let the ants get to far out of hand so I have to use the poison. If one or two of my chickens get into it I can only say oops. I do however, pick and choose where I use it. My chickens normally stay close to their coop and don't often wander into my front yard. So I use the poison around the house and in the front yard. I use more natural methods around their roaming areas. If things start to get out of hand in their roaming area I go for the chemical poison and try to keep them contained for a week.

What kind of ants do you have? We have really big fire ants. So a chicken possibly getting into the poison to me is no worse than letting the ants get out of hand and killing any chicken that happens to wander into a fire ant bed.

 

[Dace]

my priorties and go with survival of the smartest.

OK, you make a good point!!
I bought 5% sevin dust and got ant bait traps for inside. We'll see what happens.....some effort has got to be better than doing nothing!

Oh, boiling water on the hills..excellent idea, Ill do that on Sunday!

 

[2dream]

Dace - I forgot to tell you a great natural way to kill some ants but it does not kill a lot of them and they will just move their nest. But I have made them move away from the chicken coop by spraying the handle of my shovel with ant killer, scooping up a large chunk of one ant bed (loaded with ants) and dropping it on top of another ant bed. They will kill each other and the invaded nest will usually pack up and move.

Note: make sure the handle is sprayed well and still wet or the ants will come get you.

 

[unclejoe]

Dace - sounds like your part of the world is like mine. I think I sit on one giant ant colony.

I read this a few days ago so went back to get it when I came across this thread.




Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) were once native to South America. But people have unintentionally introduced the ants to all continents except Antarctica.

These introduced Argentine ants are renowned for forming large colonies, and for becoming a significant pest, attacking native animals and crops.

In Europe, one vast colony of Argentine ants is thought to stretch for 6,000km (3,700 miles) along the Mediterranean coast, while another in the US, known as the "Californian large", extends over 900km (560 miles) along the coast of California. A third huge colony exists on the west coast of Japan.

Here is a link to the entire article

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8127000/8127519.stm