Fire ants and chickens ???

[Saaniya]

My

I frequently see my chickens eating bees and any other bug they can get their beaks on. Get some chickens and you may just get rid of your ant problem

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Same here my rooster run on every bee or housefly that's okay but ants are not safe even those blue or neon fly's too they carries tons of bacteria on their back If I see my chicken beak gobbling one I pik it out fast

 

[Gloryjasmine]

Fire ants will attack and kill hatching eggs and wet chicks. Always move mom and eggs to a safe place until after they hatch and dry off completely.

 

[armyvetmom3]

It is not likely that the chickens will rid you of your fire ants. They may eat some but, the shear numbers would be overwhelming. Also, fire ants do not taste as good to animals as other ants. They have a very acrid taste apparently. In the event of a fire ant attack, your chickens would likely lose, especially if they are trapped in a coop with no escape. I would monitor the ant problem but, I would not deter from having chickens around them. I doubt many chickens fall to them. We have no fire ants here in Southeastern Ohio but, I am very familiar with them and their habits. Just be sure that you are not building the coop and run on top of active fire ant nests. If nests are present, use some type of extermination practice on them. Borax and sugar mixed together has rid me of many ants over the years without applying pesticides, not sure but, it may work on the fire ants also. Just keep it away from your chickens and other pets.

I just found a fire ant mound under a metal pan when cleaning out my run. I simply boiled a large pot of water, made sure my chickens weren't close enough to get splashed and poured the boiling water on the ant bed. No more fire ants. This is the only one I have found recently because my pest control guy that sprays for mosquitos also takes care of any ant beds in my yard. This one was missed because it was covered up by the metal pan and pest control doesn't do anything close to my chicken coop/run.