Fire Ants. *grrr!*

[Chemguy]

Grits will not work. It's just more food for the colony. I really think that a directed pesticide is the way to go. Like another poster said, a liquid poured into the mound is one way to do this. Another way to prevent the migration is to spray some vinegar. Ants lay a scent trail when they migrate and the vinegar interferes with their ability to detect the scent trail...they just can't "see" the road to take. Kind of like what would happen if you were to be blindfolded then asked to walk to a destination a mile away. Also, no, your chickens won't be harmed.

Since I moved North, I haven't had to deal with fire ants. They are pretty amazing, though in a somwhat dangerous way. Did you know that when they swarm they won't bite until the first ant makes the decision? Then, a chemical signal is produced and detected, leading ALL of the others to bite simultaneously. Amazing, but dangerous. It's easy to say things like that when the nearest fire ant is hundreds of miles away. Best of luyck to you, and keep us posted!

 

[RePete]

The problem with liquid drenches they don't percolate but a few inches into the soil, and some soils hold them at the top and never reach the many nests of ants within the mound/colony. With the baits the ants figure out something is wrong and they simply move five or six feet away and start a new colony with the same ants.

There's a "gun" used by professionals that injects a very hot, dry fog with remesthrin directly into the mound. Quickly kills the entire mound/colony of fire ants in a minute. The demonstrator shows how instantly effective it is by putting his hands into the fire ant colony that was teeming with thousands of stinging ants a minute before. Reportedly safe around animals and humans. A number of military bases use it. EPA registered though I think the only state it's registered in right now in N.C.

Check the website: antkill.com

Also here's a 1 minute You Tube video:

 

[joan1708]

I use amdro bait all around my coop, run and dog kennel. I use diatomaceous earth inside the coop and run. I hang the feed, to keep them out of that. So far, so good.

 

[halo]

Amdro works very well. Used to be after every rain, I would have 8 or 10 new mounds to treat. Im now down to where there might be one. Amdro works great. I have had hardly any hills pop up where the chickens are, but when I did, I just took a small dog kennel, put it next to the mound, and sprinkled the Amdro in the kennel where the chickens couldnt get to it. The ants will go over and take it to their mound....yummmy....d.e.a.d. Theres lots of other treatments and old wives tales....love the grits one, if that was true, dont you think they'd sprinkle the entire state of Texas with grits???.....but I do know Amdro will work.

 

[AmyLM]

we used Amdro on the yard and its worked really well.

In the house/run... no need to worry. The hens LOVED eating all the ants so the whole mound was scratched out in days. It really was kinda funny seeing them digging like kids in a candy store

 

[araceli]

Just to update ya'll, I believe the mint might actually be working. Haven't seen any ants!!! Yeehaw!!!

 

[AmyLM]

REALLY~!? wow... another excuse to plant mint all over the place. I LOVE mint and I have about 1001 uses for it. Never knew it would work on fire ants.

 

[cknnewbie]

Grits didn't work for me. I had happy fire ants..they loved them.

 

[CottonGinWaste]

Knock on wood, incredibly, I think we have the only acre in Alabama that doesn't have fire ants (or kudzu!). Instead we are massively infested with sugar ants, which we figure (maybe erroneously) has blocked the spread of fire ants into our yard from the surrounding areas. That being said, I couldn't stand the way they infested nest boxes and crawled on our broodies so I use Safer soap in the nest boxes and under them; takes 2 to 3x within a week to get rid of them, then once or twice a month and after a heavy rain.

 

[cknnewbie]

I've read that having "other" ants helps keep fire ants at bay and that using the heavy-duty pesticides kills off the "beneficials" as well as the fire ants. However, until we find a natural alternative to get rid of the fire ants that actually works I'm not sure what else to do. The fire ants are a hazard to everything and everyone on the property and have to go. I wonder if your Safer soap would work on them?