Fire ants and chickens ???

[Kazfam]

Ours have eaten fire ants but did get stung so were very cautious while pecking at them.

 

[chichidee73]

Whats DE??

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Diatomaceous earth.
From creatures called diatoms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth

 

[Woob Woob Woob]

Being in florida myself, where would you suggest I pick up some RIR near 32246?

 

[Woob Woob Woob]

I've used rice to rid fire ants. It takes a while for it to work & you might have to re-apply but it works. We try not to use any chemicals on the farm.

How does rice work?

 

[Darnall]

A woman posted that she uses rice to rid her yard of ants. In what way is this done------raw placed in the next, cooked, how?

Thank you

 

[Wrooster]

A woman posted that she uses rice to rid her yard of ants. In what way is this done------raw placed in the next, cooked, how?

Thank you

Cooked together with the queen fire ant in the same pot would work. Other than that, you'd be wasting your time. The fact that somebody did something with rice and fire ants disappeared doesn't prove it was the rice that did it. Keep in mind also that there are many ways you can annoy them enough so they move the nest but they're not dead. I'm not in favor of killing anything or using chemicals if either can be avoided but for fire ants you need them dead. To do that reliably you need to poison the queen, way down in the nest. That means Amdro or something similar.

 

[Darnall]

Makes sense----thank you.

I have stopped ants of various kinds from certain areas by using the herb tansy. I break stems of take the leaves and place them next to the line of ants crossing an area and within 24 hours they are gone. I have never tried it with Fire Ants! Tansy Vulgaris.

 

[AlHawk]

I'm also a Floridian and we have FA all over. If the mounds get too numerous I use raw grits or oatmeal on the mound. That knocks them down for a while. I just caught my little EE tearing up a fire ant mound yesterday. Dirt was flying all over. I dont know how many she ate but her head was bobbing up and down like a piston in a lawn mower. I guess she likes them.

 

[flocktastic]

We're in TX and I've noticed our chickens have no interest in fire ants - any other insect or tasty treat, they jump on but I've watched them eyeball the fire ants and pass them up.

They are a pain to get rid of - most (or all) "home remedies" that might work on regular ants, does not work on fire ants. Amdro and the like (or other FA specific chemicals if that's what someone wants) are really the way to go. Hate those buggers.