Black Widows!!!

[Marthab1953]

Quote:
you mean the brown reckloose?
or brown hermit?(same thing)

She means Brown Widows, I have both Black and Brown Widows and I live in Riverside CA.

Here is some info- http://www.badspiderbites.com/brown-widow-spider/

 

[Chinchilla2]

I'd be more apt to heed the information available from the CDC than from badspiderbites.com. For "people" information, check http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/spiders/. The brown widow is not as venomous as the black, is sometimes referred to as the grey or buff widow, and can cause some serious hurt but, just like the black, not likely to kill you unless a sensitivity exists.

 

[gryeyes]

My chickens eat black widows, brown recluse, and a whole host of other crawly critters. They do NOT, however, eat ants or sow bugs (roly poly or pill bugs).

I truly love that they eat earwigs. Go, chickens!

I will even lay out newspaper rolled into a loose tube at night, then unroll it in the morning in front of the chickens. Earwigs love to hide there, and will drop out onto the ground as I shake the roll open. Om nom nom, say the feathered velociraptors!

 

[TheCat30]

Diatomaceous Earth is very dangerous to breath in and isn't recommended around your chickens or anything living for that matter because you end up breathing it in and it gets inside your/chickens, etc. body (the only thing to break it down is hydrofluoric acid, which is extremely poisonous). The Diatomaceous Earth stays in your/chickens, etc. body and can't be broken down by the digestive tract and is razor sharp and cuts your intestines, etc. Believed to cause lung cancer (silicosis), and carries some of the same risks as exposrue to asbestos. Very absorbant and could cause your chickens to become very dehydrated since it would be absorbing all of the water instead. Go read "The Dirt On Diatomaceous Earth (DE) at www.the-chicken-chick.com
to read the whole article about it.

 

[NEChickenNoob]

My chickens eat black widows, brown recluse, and a whole host of other crawly critters. They do NOT, however, eat ants or sow bugs (roly poly or pill bugs).

I truly love that they eat earwigs. Go, chickens!

I will even lay out newspaper rolled into a loose tube at night, then unroll it in the morning in front of the chickens. Earwigs love to hide there, and will drop out onto the ground as I shake the roll open. Om nom nom, say the feathered velociraptors!

Mine eat pill bugs and ants like it's candy.

In fact I place boards down and turn them every few days to give them a snack.