bad day. ants and pipping

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi! I'm so disgusted I could cry. I had 2 broody ducks on pipping eggs last night and went out this morning expecting to see ducklings --- but both girls were off their nests and frantic --- ANTS in their nests!
Then I checked the broody girls in the Frizzle pen(eggs hatching today) and one of their nests was crawling with ANTS --- lost all those chicks and may lose the hen.
I don't know what else to do? I dust Sevin weekly in the nest boxes to deter the ants (because this has been ongoing problem), but they are so persistant.
What can I do to deter the ants, that is safe for the girls and eggs?
Times like this, artificial incubation is looking better than natural.
The ants are still an issue.
Thanks,
Lisa

 

[YeOleBroodie]

This could be a long shot but you can mix baking soda with icing sugar. Mix well and put out in piles around you coop. Put something over so if it rains it will not get melted to nothing.

Ants are drawn to it because of the sweet icing sugar and they bring it back to the nest.
Ants can not expel gas so they go pop.

Good luck! They are awful things.

 

[WriterofWords]

I'm so sorry this is happening to you, I lost a week old duckling to 1 ant bite! It's awful and I hope you can figure something out. Is there anywhere else you can put the nests or put them on legs in a shallow pail of water?

 

[annek]

Lisa, can you put some Amdro around the outside of the coop? Don't put it where the chickens can eat it. The ants will think it is food but so will your chickens so you need to keep it away from them. If you can just sprinkle some where the ant scouts find it, they will bring it back to the nest. They have 2 kinds, one is for spot treatment and the other is to surround things like your house to keep them out. If you can put the latter down, it will keep the ants out. I assume you have fire ants since I live in Aiken area also and I keep having to Amdro this summer too.

Good luck and so sorry, fireants can kill your birds if enough get on them, they are so terrible.

Anne

 

[saddina]

No solution but

 

[joebryant]

Oh, dang, and I thought we were having a problem with ants in the house.
I like Writerofwords idea, "...put the nests or put them on legs in a shallow pail of water?" GOOD LUCK!

 

[WriterofWords]

I bought some ant traps today, those little plastic things they go into and then carry the poison back into their nests. I put them around the carrier Duchess is in because I saw some ants on there this morning. By this afternoon there were no ants on the kennel! I also bought some spike that go into the ground by the ant's nest, I'm going out and put them in the ground by those big black ant's nests as soon as I know the ants are underground!

 

[milleryardchx]

I don't have ants in the coop but when I have an ant problem in my garden I put cream of wheat powder out dry in little piles the ants take it back to the ant hill and when they eat it their saliva or stomach fluid makes it expand and they explode! Thats how i get rid of ants safely every year. I don't like using poisons in places my 18 month old son goes.

 

[Big Chicken Little]

Ants hate walking over fine rough surfaces so cracked black pepper works well as does granite fines used chicks. In either case if the chicks ate it it would not be bad. DE also works but is maybe a little too fine. Boiling water on the hill also works if they are not too deep.

 

[americana-chick]

Quote:
Will that hurt the chickens?