Chickens and Fire Ants

[4kidslotsapets]

Hi,
Our yard, like most in GA, is covered in fire ants! Does anyone know of any control measures that won't affect my hens? I am afraid to put down poison, even where the hens don't go, just in case they eat the poisoned ants! Will that hurt them? And would it (the fire ants poison or the poison I put down) come through to their eggs? (I am allergic to fire ants!)

Thanks!

Kim

 

[lorrir]

Let the chickesn eat the fire ants. We live in SC and had hundreds of fire ant piles before we got chickens. Now, not a one. The chickens will destroy an ant pile and the ants will never come back. The fire ants don't seem to bother the chickens like they do us.

Best ant control EVER.

 

[tinychicky]

yes, pesticides would hurt them! if you can find a natural ant deterrent, that might be okay, but definetly double check the label first and make sure it's "pet safe" or something similar.

 

[Kaneke]

don't necessarily know what I'm talking about, but what about sprinkling food grade DE on the fire ant hills ?

 

[terrilhb]

from Georgia too. Thanks for asking that question I was going to ask that same question. I was afraid the ants would hurt the chickens.

 

[BellevueOmlet]

I would try the chickens first - it is like the cat and mouse thing, sometimes works, sometimes you have cats like mine that watched a mouse run across our kiten and did not even care enough to stand up. If that does not work, be careful about what you use to kill the ants or you will kill the chickens or add poisen into your body that the chickens ate.

 

[AKsmama]

I live in upstate SC as well, and in my experience, once the chickens find out the fire ants hurt, they don't try to eat them anymore. But their scratching may deter the ants from rebuilding in the same place. Now, if they accidentally uncover a mound of ant larvae, then they snack away, but I wouldn't count too much on the chickens being the best ant control.