Bull Ants and Cockroaches (Central Florida) HELP!!!!

[CarlyM]

Hello all and thank you in advance for any offered advice.

My lovely golden girls, Blanche, Rose, Dorothy, and Sophia along with a hen house were a birthday gift from my thoughtful boyfriend. I’ve had my coop in place with the girls since August 27th (1.5 weeks). I cleaned the coop last week without any problems. This week, I found a colony of bull ants in the coop with a cockroach infestation. I live in Central Florida and I know that these pests are just a part of our lives, however, the bull ants bite hard and cockroaches are just nasty! Should I try to rid the coop of these pests or are they going to be tasty treats that my chicks haven’t discovered yet? If I try to get rid of them, what is the best way to do this without harming my girls? The golden girls are almost 5 weeks old.

-Carly
Debary, FL

 

[chfite]

Is the infestation in the coop? Does it sit off the ground? Is the ground clear around the coop?

Chris

 

[CarlyM]

Hi chris,
The infestation was in the coop which sits up off the ground. I removed the hay inside the coop and sprinkled baking soda over the bottom and I sprinkled borax around the outside perimeter on the ground. It seems to have solved the probelm... For now. I'll keep my eyes on it

Thank you!

 

[seminolewind]

I think they like roaches, the Palmetto ones, not the wood roaches (they smell). I had a problem with roaches in my rubbermaid cabinet. Noticed there was roach poo all over. I sprayed the thing with Home Defense. No more roaches in there. I would think that you could spray the indoor perimeter with Home Defense. It dries, but if a bug walks across it, they die. I would do it along the bottom of the walls.