****ANTS!!!!!!!!!****

[Southern Chickens]

I have a broody on 32 eggs, she's a Buff Orpington. Well, they atarted to hatch yesterday. I didn't want them to all hatch with the big chickens, so I moved then! MISTAKE!!!!

I have her in a milk crate, I put her in one of the tractors that I have. Well, the title say it all! ANTS, got to them!

I went out to check on her and they were all over her and the babies hatching! I lifted her out of the crate and the whole bottom of the nest box was black with ants!!!!! I was horrified, i started snatching eggs out of the nest. The worst was the moment that they pipped, the ants would craw inside the shells with them and start bitting them! I had one that I had to yank out of the shell! It was covered in them, I don't know how many bite it got, but it was completely black with them.

I am so mad a me!
I took all of the others in side to hatch away from the ants. I check this morning and the 6 that had hatched were all still alive! Will the ant bites kill them? I am kicking myself. I have about 10 or more in the bator inside. About 12 of them didn't develop. I am freaking out!

 

[sundance]

ants in central Fla is a way of life. I know, born and raised in winter haven lived in Polk city for 16 years so be glad it wasn't fire ants, as to how to get rid of them you might try DE. any thing else will probably harm your chicks. You might try putting something sweet , like honey on a slice of bread to get them to move over to the bread then grab your chicks and run. marrie

 

[Southern Chickens]

I didn't even think about the fire ants! Thank God, that it wasn't them. I was born and raised in Hernando county, FL so I know about the ants, I was just stupid! I managed to rescue all of the chicks, they are inside and ant free! I have given the dry lively ones back to the momma. Do you think that she would take care of Guinea keets? I have about 7 now, inside. Only a few days old, so are still hatching!

 

[sundance]

Try slipping them under her at night and watch her close the next day, Once the Guiana get grown, they do have a tendency to roam. marrie

 

[tn_artist]

I was going to mention the fire ants too. We dont have much trouble with them in this part of TN, but when I lived in SC my ex-husband and I went to the state fair and I fell in love with the chickens. (city girl out of Atlanta)

He got me a blue OE pullet and a crele OE pullet and he got a pair of white bantams that I still cant identify! Anyway, blue laid eggs under the lawn mower and hatched out 6 cuties. I was so amazed! I was also shocked when I went back to check on them and the fire ants were burrowing into the scales on their legs!!!!!
I started scraping them off with my fingernails. I lost one, but the rest survived. I had no idea they would do that, but I still don't know why they were burrowing into the scales.

(We also lost a large deep freezer, full of food to fire ants. They built a nest in the motor and burned it up while we were out of town. That was a nasty, rotten, stinkin' mess that we had to unload before we could even lift the freezer to get rid of it)
I HATE FIRE ANTS!!!!!!!!! (and ticks, mosquitoes and cockroaches)

 

[Southern Chickens]

Well, the little one that was covered in them, made it. He clearly has some bites on the comb, but it's alive! I will post pictures soon. So far she has 13 chicks.

 

[jenjscott]

When the river came up the lower fire ants moved their nest up... into my Turkey shelter! We're gonna get rid of them. We never had fire ants until the river rise about 10 years ago floated a bunch in. We've had them ever since.

 

[Sillystunt]

I am glad your little guy is ok! Hey sundance, i am in winter haven...lol And ants are like every where.....geesh.

I had a sweet little southern lady tell me to put grits down the ant mounds. The grits expand in their bellies and kill them. Said she had been doing that since she can remember and it always worked. Also no chemicals. My dad does it now and says it has worked!

 

[halo]

Quote:
Grits do NOT kill ants. Amazing the things people believe.

From an article:

There are many myths concerning fireant (or ant) mound elimination or colony elimination. None of the foods (grits, oatmeal, etc.) will cause any type of internal problems with an ant. They do not get fatal flatulence; they do not blow up --it just does not work that way!
In the first place, adult ants cannot digest solid foods. Worker ants can be seen going back to their colony with either a swollen belly (from liquid foods) or carrying a solid piece of food. Solids are fed to ant larvae in the nursery; larvae digest the solids and immediately regurgitate the nutrients back to the adult worker ants. These ants, in turn, feed other ants in the colony. On the average, each worker ant will feed 10 other ants. This unique transfer of nutrients insures that any poisons or bad foods are filtered out before reaching the queen and the workers around her.
Second, ants love corn! Many farmers have severely damaged their machinery while running into or over large fireant mounds in the fields. Thousands of pounds of grain products are tossed into the trash by home owners each year, because ants invaded the containers in which grains are stored. Ants love corn and it does not kill them!
The myth with grits (and other grains) began when the general public discovered that small grains of ground corn (in essence, grits!) are the carrier in many ant baits. The carrier is just that -- the product on which the attractant (soybean oil, etc.) and the pesticide (Hydramethylnon, etc.) are placed. The carrier is just the vehicle with which we disperse granular pesticides and baits.
When people dump grits or other such objects onto an ant mound, the ants do not appreciate the door of their home being disturbed. They then build another door (mound) to their colony, deserting the one covered with grains. Ants have many uses for their mound (incubating young, etc.) and do not appreciate it when you dump things on top! When all is said and done, the colony did not even move (as most people believe), it just built another doorway to the colony.
This is good to remember when using an ant bait: do not dump the product on top of the ant mound or nest. Instead, broadcast your baits around the mound and in other areas where ants are seen foraging for food.

 

[Southern Chickens]

Those pesty things! I am going to be buying bait today to kill them ALL!!!!