Fire ants and chickens ???

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I don't have a huge fire ant problem here anymore. I pour grits on the mound. chickens flock to grits, tear up mound and feast on fire ant eggs. I still have ants and still monitor my birds but the problem is pretty minor compared to other things. I have never seen fire ants harm a healthy mobile bird, only sick or injured ones. No poison and no danger to me or my ladies. Biggest threat to my girls is my own dang dogs.

Alice
 
aafairchild said:
I don't have a huge fire ant problem here anymore. I pour grits on the mound. chickens flock to grits, tear up mound and feast on fire ant eggs. I still have ants and still monitor my birds but the problem is pretty minor compared to other things. I have never seen fire ants harm a healthy mobile bird, only sick or injured ones. No poison and no danger to me or my ladies. Biggest threat to my girls is my own dang dogs.

Alice
Click to expand...
I know this is an old thread, but I am now testing my dogs with an old rooster I just purchased for $5. One of the White English dogs is ignoring it. Her father is a real good old time 125 lb farm bulldog that killed a bobcat trying to kill the chickens he was guarding. The other WE is way too interested in that old rooster that is protected by the coop. I think I will have to work with her. Her breeding lineage is different from the other pup.
I also have a lot of fireants and so it appears that hens under some circumstances can eat fireants.
 
aafairchild said:
I don't have a huge fire ant problem here anymore. I pour grits on the mound. chickens flock to grits, tear up mound and feast on fire ant eggs. I still have ants and still monitor my birds but the problem is pretty minor compared to other things. I have never seen fire ants harm a healthy mobile bird, only sick or injured ones. No poison and no danger to me or my ladies. Biggest threat to my girls is my own dang dogs.

Alice
Click to expand...

Since your chickens tear up a fire ant mound going after the eggs, what are the thousands of fire ants doing to your chickens digging in the mound in the meantime? Try sticking your fingers or hand down in a fire ant mound for 30 seconds and see what happens.
 
We are just thinking of getting some chickens in NC. What kind of chickens were you referring to as RIR? I have another friend in FL who said her chickens ate fireants, but don't know what kind they were. Thanks!
 
cpyo65 said:
We are just thinking of getting some chickens in NC. What kind of chickens were you referring to as RIR? I have another friend in FL who said her chickens ate fireants, but don't know what kind they were. Thanks!
Click to expand...
RIR= Rhode Island Reds

Lots of people SAY things.
That doesn't mean it's TRUE

The reality remains if you don't kill the QUEEN, the nest survives no matter how many workers you kill
 
Bear Foot Farm said:
RIR= Rhode Island Reds

Lots of people SAY things.
That doesn't mean it's TRUE

The reality remains if you don't kill the QUEEN, the nest survives no matter how many workers you kill
Click to expand...

And THAT is TRUE. You can annoy them enough that all several thousand of them pack up and move. You might think they're all dead, but that's only until you or your neighbor discover where they moved to. You gotta kill the queen. You get no points for any of the others.

Amdro might not be health food for chickens but the risk is low and it's really not health food for fire ants.
 
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