Black Widows!!!

[rarely bored]

(oops this would be for stupidbird and Yetti's post)

bet a flaming torch wouldn't work so well in a cheap 'ol mobile home... so bummed!


black widows are hard to kill with poison... but the foot or a long stick works every time! Gotta admit, black widows are my favorite venoumous creature we have... they move slow and prefer to hide, unlike the rattlers.

 

[Moabite]

Just use a broom and sweep her out where the chickens can fight over her juicy entrails. My little blue leghorn ate 6 big fat ones last fall while we moved a rock pile. Gave me the "willies" watching those smooth black legs squirm out of the corners of her beak. Eggs were fine, but the wife and kids were not so sure, so I ate them.

 

[StupidBird]

huh. You're lucky, my flock pretends not to see black widow spiders when I shoo the things in from under stuff. Birds pounce on every other moving piece of dirt even, but not those black widows.

 

[ranit]

Years ago the house we moved into a house that had wolf spiders (really big creepy ones that jumped!) An elderly neighbor recommended we place some hedge apples around. We put some in the garage and under the house and the spiders disappeared. Not sure if they eat them and they are poison to them or what. Did this several times over the years - anytime we started seeing spiders and it always seemed to work. We now have a hedge tree at the edge of our property and the free-range chickens and ducks never bother the apples that drop so I assume they are not harmful to them.

 

[EM Squared Farms 2]

I get a TON of brown widows near me. Nasty critters, they are more poisonous than the black.

 

[ODEY587]

YIKES!!! glad we dont have them here in NY

 

[LindsaySinai]

I think I have more brown widows then black widows but I heard they're harmless because they dont give out enough venom and the venom doesnt spread in the body like that of the black widow. I had no idea I had them until I started doing research on the black widows and saw the very distinct egg sac for the brown widows. I have see those sacs ALL OVER my yard. So creepy!!! I have two kids(and another in a few weeks), three dogs, and two chicken coops. I've lived here for 2.5 years and never had a bad incident with a spider...lets hope it stays that way.

 

[indi]

Quote:
I totally agree!!! I HAtE spiders!!!! I don't think there are any poisonous siders where I live (London, ENGLAND) if I am wrong please say!!! My chickens (all of two) adore spiders and pull most of the legs off before they eat it!!!

 

[QuinnP]

we have the brown recluse/fiddlebacks here. my friend got bit, didn't go the hospital & swelled up horribly. Now he's acting mean & wanting to fight everyone in sight. I dont knoew if he was always a jerk but good at hiding it or the venom did something to his noggin

 

[MusketeerinFla]

Years ago I worked for Terminex . What I learned about spiders was , unless you can spray a poison directly on them, you won't kill them. They are not like roaches or ants. When a spider walks, its whole body is off the ground. I don't see why a non persistent aerosol bomb would be harmful to the chickens. Just keep them out for about 4 to 6 hours, make sure no feed is contaminated. It may be easier to go after the spider's food source with a natural repellent . Just a thought. MiF