Not sure what topic to put this under...treating pests in the yard where the chickens reside

I live in Florida (pest capital of the world) have a 12 foot high, 150 foot long ficus hedge in my backyard that has Whitefly. I don't want to lose this hedge! Even though my two chickens are taking care of the pests in ground for me, they are a bit too short to be able to handle the pests taking over my hedge. It really needs to be treated. Does anyone know how to go about doing this without creating an "off limits" area for a year? I bought temporary fencing to keep my little foragers from hanging out in their favorite spot (under the hedge) thinking I would only need to keep them out of the area for a couple of weeks but I have read that some pest controls require a year's recovery after application before grazing and foraging animals can have access. It's a huge hedge so soaping it every few days seems not very feasible, plus my neighbor's hedge looks like they have had the Whitefly problem way longer than us and they aren't treating it. I am thinking treating ours with something "light" will probably just cause the infestation to recur. Does anyone know of a product we can use that will get rid of the Whitefly without taking out our chickens too?

permethrin

I just googled that and I see there is a spray and a dust. I guess I would have to spray since dusting that high up isn't possible without a cherry picker. How long would you say I would need to keep the chickens away after spraying? Like if it seeps into the soil, would it be unsafe for them to digging around in there for a while?

It's safe to spray or dust directly on the chickens so you have no worries, that's why I recommended it. I'd also go with the spray, you can get 10% and 38% concentrations very reasonably priced at TSC/Lowes/Your local farm store.

If you have a big reinfeastation you can spray again and add an IGR (I like NyGuard) and that breaks the life cycle, it's especially effective against mosquitoes which are a problem for all of us here in the Southeastern US

That's what we will use! Thanks so very much JetCat!!!

You're welcome

One more question Do you have any experience with Spreader Sticker (to help the product spread and stick better)? Is it safe to use with the chickens? Treated with 10% Permethrin. Was thinking about retreating to be safe in a few weeks and adding the IGR for that go around. Wondering if I should add the Spreader Sticker too...your thoughts?

rjandlily said:

One more question

Do you have any experience with Spreader Sticker (to help the product spread and stick better)? Is it safe to use with the chickens? Treated with 10% Permethrin. Was thinking about retreating to be safe in a few weeks and adding the IGR for that go around. Wondering if I should add the Spreader Sticker too...your thoughts?

Click to expand...

Spreader Sticker is a surfactant, I use dawn dish detergent for a surfactant with herbicides and pesticides but never directly on an animal, the dawn should be safe but i cant' say about the Spreader Sticker

I will stay away from that product then. I fenced off the area I treated and figured I would wait a week before letting them back into forage there...I just worry about what gets in the soil and how long it stays where they will scratch and peck. Thank you again!