Black Widow in the Chicken Coop!

[weebug]

How do I kill it? It is in the rear corner under the nesting box ledge. A rather difficult place for me to get to. It hides everytime I come into the coop but I know it is there, I know what their webs look and feel like, they are unlike other spider webs. I normally avoid chemical pesticides EXCEPT when it comes to Black Widows but I am afraid if I spray the web, the spray will get on the pine shavings and the chickens will nibble on them and get sick. On the other hand I am afraid if I leave the widow in there, she will bite a chicken and kill it, and/or lay eggs and then there will be hundreds of them!

HELP! I hate Black Widows!!!!!

Rene.

 

[conroy]

What about that green can of Raid... isn't that made out of all natural pesticides.... I would spray then clean the pine shavings... idk.. good luck

 

[Miltonchix]

Most sprays will only put a widow to sleep. Try a stick maybe and crush it. Just don't antogonize it. They can and will jump quite far. On to you, if you try to make it angry.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

O.K. Don't panic. Black widows don't jump and they don't get mad, so you're safe at the moment.

I really wouldn't spray; that's like using a nuclear bomb to take out a gopher. Get yourself a sturdy stick about 2' long and go in and stick it into the web and twist as if you were taking up cotton candy. This will pull all the egg sacs out and, hopefully, the female spider living there too. Remember, they can't see you, they don't even know you're there. Just take your time and be careful. At this point you can do one of two things. One, you could have a jar handy to put the spider into and release it elsewhere. Or two, step on it. Keep in mind, they are surprisingly fragile whatever you decide to do with it. All this might be easier to do at night when the spider is out on the web and actively foraging, rather than squeezed into her daytime retreat (which can be tough to find at times). Good luck Rene. It really isn't as bad at it might seem.

 

[huntercf]

Most poisons are ineffective against black widows because they can shut down their system for several days. Just knock down the webs, and keep knocking them down and she will starve to death.

 

[KandJsmama]

Take a broom and destroy the web. Do this everyday and it will starve her to death. This is how we control them around here

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
It's pretty tough to starve one to death. Regular web destruction causes the spider to move because it is such a huge loss of energy investment. The only problem with this method is that you are simply causing them to move out and away (generally this means less than 100'). For most people that might be fine, but if you want them gone you have to kill them.

 

[KandJsmama]

Actually ours keep rebuilding in the same spot. After a year of doing this our population of them went down significantly.

 

[desertdarlene]

I was at a stables one time and a black widow was in a storage shed. I saw someone grab a pair of pliers and squash the spider with them. Then, they cleaned out the web. If you don't want to kill her, you can probably catch her in a jar like most other spiders and release her somewhere else like a tree or bush far away.

 

[crosbygroup]

I have one in my compost bin. I tried to get it with a stick and it fell into the bin along with the egg sacks. I have no idea where they all went in the bin. I'm going to just watch and keep the compost turned, keep it moist with lots of water and heat it up with chicken poop. I hope that will at least kill the eggs.

So see it could be worse - at least you know where your Black Widow is.