ANTS!

[dumb chicken lady]

Any suggestions for ants in the chicken coop???

 

[BeckyLa]

I use 5% Sevin dust, I just sprinkle some on top of the bedding then work it in. It won't hurt the birds but does get rid of the ants. I also put a little in the nest box, again mixing it into the bedding.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

First step is to search the forum for "ants":

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=8314

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=11200

 

[GoodEgg]

I needed to get rid of a new ant hill immediately, because I couldn't move the temp run and the chicks didn't know to stay out of the ants. Poor babies were walking in and then picking up their feet and looking at them and pecking them. I'm sure they were getting bitten.

I boiled some water and poured it on the ant hill. You have to be VERY CAREFUL to keep chickens away, especially if they think anything you bring is a treat. I stayed there and kept them away from the place until it cooled, which took some time. It doesn't kill all of them, but probably about 95% in my case, which at least let the chicks use their run for the next few days, which was my main goal.

I don't know if your situation is similar. If I had had time to kill them, I would not have chosen this method, I think.

trish

 

[silkiechicken]

I had an ant hill once that was maybe 3 feet round and 3 feet high. We don't have bad ants here though so they were harmless. I would take a shovel every once in a while and turn over the top because it was funny to watch them go crazy. But I guess I must have dug too deep once... because they all died.