Just found cockroaches the size of hamsters in my coop. HELLLPPP!!!!!

[guesswhatchickenbutt]

I was just out back cleaning out the chicken coop and when I lifted up the bedding in the coop/nest box area a herd of roaches the size of hamsters scattered into the crevices of the coop. I screamed like a girl, threw down my pitchfork and shuddered and danced for a good 15 minutes. I then pulled up my big girl panties and went back to the coop and finished cleaning it out. A few times one of the roaches grabbed the pitchfork out of my hand and tried to pull it away from me, but I fought back and got all the hay out. Um....now what do I do? I do not want to put any poison down that could hurt my chickens. I do NOT want to have my girls living in a roach-infested coop either. It's important for you to know that we live in Central FL where it's hot, muggy and humid. The coop is located under a canopy of trees and it is pretty buggy out there anyway... But I simply cannot stand the thought of my girls - plus the eggs we eat - plus hamster-sized roach herds. Clearly I need some advice.

I just searched on here and read a bunch of threads on cockroaches in the coop and I'm still a little lost. Here's what I've determined:

1) Some say DE will work on roaches. Others say it will not. Is there a definitive answer on this?

2) Some say to put roach poison down under the bedding where the chickens cannot get to it to kill the roaches and it'll be safe. Others say if a sickly roach who's eaten the poison wanders out and a chicken eats it, you'll poison your chickens.

3) Some people say to caulk the edges of your coop and you'll be fine. Well our coop is an open coop so my chickens don't cook in the FL heat, so that won't work.

4) Some have written that you should keep your coop dry - well we live in FL with humidity that's off the charts so we have dampness all the time.

5) Some people have said that the chickens should eat the roaches. Clearly mine are not. Maybe I give them too much cantelope for breakfast. Who knows?


Pleeeeeeeeease someone tell me what I can do. I'm dyyyyyyying over here. I have a serious cockroach phobia. We've lived in our house 10 years and I've never had one in the house because I'm insane about preventing them in the home. Now here I am letting my three beautiful girls live in a coop that isn't fit for a sewer rat.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

I'm gonna go shower now. Twice.

Shudder.

 

[klf73]

eeeeek, sorry I don't have any advise but just reading your post gave me the willies .... roaches are one of the two things that "gets" to me.

(maggots are the other)

 

[StevenW.]

In my ducks coop the roaches like to go in the bedding...
But the ducks eat them so it really isn't a problem for me!

 

[dkvart1]

Sorry, I laughed, your description of the battle over the pitchfork was priceless! Sorry you are having that problem, living in FL I know the cockroaches and palmetto bugs are horrendous and rather frightening. First time I encountered a pametto bug it swooped at me and buzzed the top of my head. Which made me hit the floor screaming. When I recoverd my first words were "Take me home", I'm from Illinois!

Years ago we bought a house in Missouri and the previous owners left behind a few hundred things... yup, roaches. I tried eveything, then someone told be to put down baking soda. Roaches groom themselves and they carry it back to their nests. They can't burb so when they injest it, it kills them. Don't know if that's what kills them, but it got rid of the roaches. I'd try sprinkling some under the bedding especially along the wall edges. Now, mind you I don't know if chickens can burb, or if it would affect them to eat one, but it appears yours aren't especially fond of them...

Maybe someone knows the answer to whether chickens can burb. Of course the high sodium content might not be a good thing either, thinking about it.

Hope someone here has a better solution.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

It's more an esthetic concern than harmful for the chickens. They no doubt are eating them just some are going deep into the liter and are out of reach. Cockroaches being night feeders. DE should work if mixed thoroughly into the bedding. It wont kill adults but will stop the colony from proliferating, dry out and kill all offspring.

 

[ranchhand]

Soon as I saw the title I thought okay, there's a southerner. One landed on my shoulder last night. I thought it was one of the cats.

You DO know they can fly, right? And they don't fly away, they fly TOWARD you?

We call them skateboards, here in SC. Best answer I have found? The rat snakes eat them.

 

[geebs]

Go get cucumbers and put the peelings all over in the litter... Spray the juice all over the coop... Keep putting fresh cucumbers in thier... the peelings etc... Cockroaches are allergic to cucumber....

You will need to treat your chickens with Pour on ivomec... particularly in thier eyes if you see swellings in their eyes or if they are making a gaping action.... They carry the worms from cockroaches in their crop...they hatch and migrate to their eyes and blind them... REALLY Ivomec in the eyes (one drop every week for two weeks) to treat infected birds.

 

[guesswhatchickenbutt]

Quote:
Please tell me that you did not just say "roach worms"

Please.

I am going to be in therapy before the week is up at this rate.

Holy #@#%^% I'm dyyyyying.

But cucumbers? really??????

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
HOLY MOLEY!

Geebs, do you have a link to that and more information?

 

[geebs]

The peelings I hear are effective... I found one roach at my house that came in on some canned food that I was collecting for a food bank....I launched an all out assault with cucumbers... Never another sign and it has been YEARS...

Here is a link I found talking about the eyeworm and how to treat for the cockroach thing.. Good luck.