Fire ants count as pests to me.

[TeaChick]

We have fire ant nests in our yard and we free range our chickens. I've tried to convince them that they are BACK yard chickens, but they insist that, not only are they FRONT yard chickens, sometimes they are front STEP chickens. :\
Anyway...

We have an excellent method for controlling the fire ants; it is a spot treatment recipe that a neighbor gave us. I've lived with fire ants for over 30 years and I've never seen anything work better; HOWEVER, the recipe includes corn meal and... You guessed it... we can't keep the chickens out of it. I've tried laundry baskets, but I couldn't think of anything else that would allow the rain to wash away the poisoned corn meal after the mound was dead.
We have gone back to using just the powder poison; the chickens stay out of that. The problem is that without the rest of the recipe, the ants just move around.

ANY ideas would be welcomed.
Thanks In Advance!
EDIT TO ADD: Ive gotten several repies suggesting Amdro. We have been using Ortho and that just causes them to move around; consequently, we end up just chasing them around the yard. Can anyone tell me how the Amdro granules is different from the Ortho pwder?

 

[chfite]

Something that I have used in the past to control fire ants is malathion. I would mix a gallon bucket of it and carefully pour it right down the center of the mound.

Chris

 

[Chick Charm]

My chickens like the side yards and sometimes part of the front yard. Funny the neighbors yard is sometimes luring them over. Yikes. Neighbors are friends so all is good.

The cornmeal will spoil eventually to the point they won't to eat it......HOPEFULLY! Like you, I have experienced that chickens do not eat or mess with the poisons like Ortho Fire Ant Killer.

Wish ya the best.

 

[TeaChick]

Something that I have used in the past to control fire ants is malathion.  I would mix a gallon bucket of it and carefully pour it right down the center of the mound.

Chris

Thanks! My husband said we can get that. I remember hearing my grandpa talk about that; his dad ran a nursery (flowers) and used it "all the time".
Thanks, Chris!

 

[TeaChick]

My chickens like the side yards and sometimes part of the front yard.  Funny the neighbors yard is sometimes luring them over.  Yikes. Neighbors are friends so all is good.

The cornmeal will spoil eventually to the point they won't to eat it......HOPEFULLY!  Like you, I have experienced that chickens do not eat or mess with the poisons like Ortho Fire Ant Killer.  

Wish ya the best.   

Thankfully, our chickens stay in our yard. Good ur neighbors r friends!

Yeah, Ortho or smthg like it is what we use.
The problem w/ the corn meal.is keeping the chickens out of it. :-/

Thanks.

 

[Chick Charm]

Hopefully the remaining cornmeal will spoil soon. I think it would only take a week (if not a couple days) or so to become rancid outside. That is what one can hope anyways.

 

[weezilgirl]

I use Amdro. It is tiny granules and I've had great success with it. If I'm really mad at them. (bite me) and they aren't near the house, I pour gasoline down the hole and burn their little bits. I rarely do it and it gives me great satisfaction watching them die.

 

[MalMom]

I totally read that as, "Fire ants count as PETS to me"

 

[TeaChick]

I use Amdro. It is tiny granules and I've had great success with it. If I'm really mad at them. (bite me) and they aren't near the house, I pour gasoline down the hole and burn their little bits. I rarely do it and it gives me great satisfaction watching them die.

I think the brand of fire ant killer we use is Ortho. At any rate, I'll talk to my husband about Amdro granules. Thanks!

Dh has done the gasoline thing before. I'll mention that too.

 

[TeaChick]

I totally read that as, "Fire ants count as PETS to me"

Yeah, um, no. rotf!!! I'm a native Floridian, so..... NEVER. But funny, yes.