Hornets and Wasps

[llombardo]

im still working on the enclosure and I noticed hornets buzzing around the coop. Every year I have hornet nests everywhere. Last year wasn't as bad as the year before but I think this year is going to be. I'm not sure how none of us(people and dogs) have not gotten stung. I checked the coop out but couldn't find anything but my gut tells me they are there somewhere. Probably in the roof somewhere. I can get spray now before the chickens go out there, but how do you control it once they are out there? It's poison and the bees get angry, don't need the chickens to get stung.

So how does everyone keep them away?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My husband just sprays wherever they are. You can also try the traps. We use them in the fall with some raspberries in them.

 

[llombardo]

They have traps for hornets?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They have traps for hornets?

Yes. You bait them with cat food and OJ I believe. We don't catch many until fall when they are getting ready to hibernate, than we catch tons. We even use the big fly jars to get them. They like to go under our house siding in the fall.

We also have used sticky traps with mixed results.

 

[aart]

Bees, wasps, and hornets are all quite different creatures.
They can be hard to ID definitively,
and the techniques for killing or deterring each can be different too.

im still working on the enclosure and I noticed hornets buzzing around the coop.

Is this a brand new structure?
Are you opposed to poison sprays?

 

[llombardo]

Bees, wasps, and hornets are all quite different creatures.
They can be hard to ID definitively,
and the techniques for killing or deterring each can be different too.


Is this a brand new structure?
Are you opposed to poison sprays?

I'm not fond of them, especially around animals. I don't mind spraying before they get out there and giving it time to dry. I am concerned about when they are in there.

 

[Ducksandchickens]

We move our chickens to our quarantine coop and then spray. We keep the chickens in the quarantined coop for a week, rake away the dead bees and hornets and then put the chickens back in

 

[aart]

I'm not fond of them, especially around animals. I don't mind spraying before they get out there and giving it time to dry. I am concerned about when they are in there.

Sometimes hanging fake nests can keep hornets and some wasps away.
When I was building my coop there were paper and mud wasps in the shed,
we sprayed them and left the nests up, have not seen any new nests built in 4 years now.