Can I use my chickens as pest control in my woodshed? Crossposted from r/BackYardChickens

[chetan100]

I heat my house primarily with a woodstove, which means that I have big stacks of wood sitting in a shed. Recently, I have noticed that all sorts of bugs and spiders have taken up residence in my shed, and I wanted to check with some more experienced chicken keepers if I could use my girls as pest control and let them eat the insects. They kind of gross me out

I'm primarily worried about their feet getting stuck somehow or them maybe laying eggs between the logs rather than their nest boxes.

 

[cavemanrich]

I will address this from a logical point of view. If you have a large wood pile, the chickens will not even put a dent in the insects that are deep inside the pile.
Yes, the chickens can also possibly get hurt if their legs do get stuck, or if a pile decides to tumble down when disturbed, onto some chickies below.
I have tried following procedure, to somewhat control insects in confined areas, but am not totally sure of the actual effectiveness. Worth a try, and it is inexpensive.
I poured laundry bleach liberally all over in my enclosed area. I closed off,( semi-sealed) area, and did not vent until next day. I obviously avoided breathing those vapors.
My assumption was that the chlorine in the air would finish off those bugs.
If your pile is somewhat reasonable in size, start of with about 2 gallons poured on quickly, and split the scene.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[SueT]

Our free range chickens have free access to our big woodshed. They do go in there some but prefer other areas for foraging. They haven't gotten in trouble w the wood stacks though. They always go back to their coop to lay eggs. With young pullets, I keep them confined 24/7 around the start of egg laying until they become attached to the coop nest boxes.
Welcome to BYC!

 

[chetan100]

thank you all for your replies.

 

[Mrs. K]

I would be leary of using chlorine bleach in this manner. I would not want to burn the wood in my house afterwards. Just saying

 

[runningboy]

It's actually quite a smart DIY idea in my opinion, I don't see why it wouldn't work, apart from if your chickens are not necessarily interested in those bugs. Thankfully I never had issues with bugs until now, and I hope it will remain like this, haha. I did however had to deal with geese. They were fighting my chicken, and obviously winning. It was an article by Nicholas Martin that actually helped me get rid of them with DIY methods cause I was ready to exterminate all of them the next time they came close to my poor chicken. They would definitely win versus a bug, so I think you're safe, haha.