Ants!

[Bosque]

I have two new chickens that I just put out into the run. This is my first time with chickens. There are ants in their food. At night, the chickens are eating a few of the ants, but they freak out a little bit when the ants crawl on their feet. Should I try to reduce the ant population or let the chickens eat away.

 

[sandy sea]

Leave the ants. My chickens love the little bit of extra protein they get from eating all kinds of bugs, Do you hang your feed? The ants should stay out of the food if it is off the ground.

 

[Big Chicken Little]

Chickens love ants ...it will not be long before they hunt for them

 

[Imp]

What kind of ants? There were posts last year about ants killing caged birds and animals. Fire Ants I believe, although I'm not sure.

Imp- The only thing afraid of ants around here is sugar.

 

[Bosque]

They are not fire ants, just regular ole ants. The feed is not in a hanging feeder, rather one of those mason jar metal ones. I have the feeder on a slab of granite to keep the wood chips out of the feed. Should I get a feeder that is off the ground?

 

[RoosterMania]

Yesterday I put four young birds in a cage I built (open floor). Last night when I checked on them, three of them were on the roost and one was on the ground. When I woke up this morning and checked on them, the one that was on the ground was dead and covered in ants. Could that be what killed it?

 

[Eggs4Sale]

Quote:
Did the 4th one normally sit on the roost?

If so, the chicken was probably sick and didn't have the energy to fly up to the roost. If it had been attacked by ants, a healthy bird wouldn't have stayed there and just taken it, would they?

I wonder if anyone knows how long it takes for ants to finish their work.

I'm guessing the ants were the end product.

 

[Renee']

I had a problem with ants in my chicken waterer so I put one of those Grant's Kills Ants thingys in the ant trail right outside the coop and bye bye ants. Those things work great!

 

[sandy sea]

I would suggest hanging your feed. It keeps ants and mice out of the feed. I hang mine from the rafters in the run under it I have a round table. The chickens can jump on the table to reach their feed, but my pigs can not get to it.