Ant Infestation

[Bree99]

I just recently built a small chicken coop and it has gotten infested with ants. All of the nesting boxes are always full of small black ants. What is a safe way to get rid of them?

 

[Feathers Brady]

Hi bree99
I use cotton balls soaked in a mixture of sugar water and borax washing powder. Works like a charm for me.
I set the cotton balls along the ant trails. Sometimes I use a squirt bottle and saturate along the foundation. It'll attract them but not for long. I use 1 cup warm water, half cup sugar, 3 Tbs borax.
Good luck!

 

[Bree99]

Hi bree99
I use cotton balls soaked in a mixture of sugar water and borax washing powder. Works like a charm for me.
I set the cotton balls along the ant trails. Sometimes I use a squirt bottle and saturate along the foundation. It'll attract them but not for long. I use 1 cup warm water, half cup sugar, 3 Tbs borax.
Good luck!

Thank you so much!

 

[Feathers Brady]

Your welcome!Let me know if it works for you!
I'm in central Illinois area, not sure if it matters what type of ants but it sure works here.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I use food grade DE. Some may poopoo DE but it works great for me and I have no concerns about my chickens well being with it. I would get large red ants in the summer something terrible. I would shake the DE with a sifter along their trails..heck I’d dust them. They looked like sugar coated ants. Within two days all gone. I only had to do this twice this summer. I’d put it on their mounds too. I eventually used it all over my yard. Worked GREAT! I also mix it into their pellets once a month for a maintenance dewormer. I would DUST their coop using a empty dishwashing bottle (like Dawn) while they were out I’d puff the entire coop. This too I do in summer as maintenance against mites and such. Great little product. Best wishes

 

[FeatherstoneFrm]

I'm wondering where you are as well. I'm in GA and we have tiny black ants everywhere the last few summers. They are in the house, the cars, so far not so much in the coop/run but impossibl to get rid of. No trails just ants all over the place.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I have those in the house sometimes too. Be sure and wipe their “trails” with a soapy sponge. Mine are just seasonal (inside) seems like they can’t find their way without that chemical trail they lay down. Heaven forbid I leave just one smudge of something on the counter....by morning it’s a moving! Lol

 

[Bree99]

I live in the southern part of IL. We don’t so much get the ants in the house but they have absolutely swarmed the coop. I cleaned the straw out of it today and it just looked like a black mass moving around . Maybe a different bedding would help too?