Fire Ants. *grrr!*

[Bear Foot Farm]

Grits won't kill anything

It's just corn, and fire ants can only swallow liquids

Bait type poisons are the only thing that REALLY work to eliminate them, since you have to kill the Queens

 

[bnjrob]

well I guess my chickens like eating fire ants. As soon as I open the door in the morning they all come flying out and make a bee line for the ants and start tapping their feet on the little mounds to bring out the ants... then peck every one that comes out.

Check this out - it's a review that they did of various "organic" remedies. Some may be helpful.

http://fireant.tamu.edu/materials/factsheets_pubs/pdf/fapfs012.2002rev.pdf


I just found something that said they are making spinosad fire ant bait now. I like to use spinosad in the garden as a direct on-the-bug spray to kill the bugs. Spinosad is pretty safe for domestic animals and we have felt comfortable using it. So if it works on fireants too - thinking that is something I will look into and it should be getting cheaper since it isn't so new anymore.

http://web.pppmb.cals.cornell.edu/resourceguide/mfs/13spinosad.php

 

[TinyBirds]

We use a pot of boiling water on each mound. Sometimes 2-4 pots if needed. Works really well.

 

[gapeach717]

My coop is covered in ants from a tree it is partially under this morning!! I am so mad! I am going to have to do some serious work tongetbrid of them before the chicks make their way outside soon!!!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote:

We use a pot of boiling water on each mound. Sometimes 2-4 pots if needed. Works really well.

That just kills a few ants near the surface, and makes them move the mound.
Unless you kill the QUEEN, you haven't done them much harm

 

[AHDCST]

GRITS? ummm... please clarify.

Buy the long cooking plain grits, the microwaveable ones won't work. I was told to sprinkle grits all around the areas like around the outside of the run and the coop. This works for 2 reasons: 1. the ants don't like to cross a line and 2. when they eat the grits they swell in the ants stomach and their stomach explodes. Poof! No more ants. I have used grits for ants around the house for years mainly because I don't want to use anything that might hurt me dogs or chickens. Hope it works for you!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote:

Buy the long cooking plain grits, the microwaveable ones won't work. I was told to sprinkle grits all around the areas like around the outside of the run and the coop.
This works for 2 reasons: 1. the ants don't like to cross a line and 2. when they eat the grits they swell in the ants stomach and their stomach explodes. Poof! No more ants.
I have used grits for ants around the house for years mainly because I don't want to use anything that might hurt me dogs or chickens. Hope it works for you!

One more time

Grits do NOT kill fire ants
It's nothing but corn

Adult Fire Ants cannot swallow solid foods

This topic has been done before:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=6693466

The digestive system - this part of an ant is used for digesting an ants food. When food is eaten,it passes on to the food pouch.This is where the juices are sqeezed out of the food.

The ant swallows the juice and spits out the solid part.The liquid goes to the crop,or social stomach.

An ant will regurgitate (spit out) from its crop to feed other ants.Some food goes to the midgut,where its digested.The undigested food passes out of the rectum.

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5164970_do-ants-digest-food.html

Adult ants cannot digest solid foods.

Therefore, everything they eat has to be turned into a liquid before it enters the digestive tract. When the ant eats a piece of food, digestive juices interact with the solid outside of the ant's mouth and dissolve the solid food into digestible liquid. The ant then laps up the food with its tongue.

Filtering
The food goes through the ant's mouth into a chamber below that houses a filter. The filter makes sure no solids are allowed to progress. The solids in the chamber are compressed into one pellet, which the ant then spits out.

http://msucares.com/insects/fireants/biology.html

Despite their helpless condition, the larvae make an important contribution to the welfare of the colonyolder larvae are the only individuals in the colony capable of digesting solid food.

Workers bring all solid food particles to the older larvae, and, after this solid food is digested by the larvae, the resulting liquid is distributed to all members of the colony. Unlike honeybee colonies, fire ant colonies do not contain any physical structures for storing food. Food is stored inside the ants themselves, especially in the crops of larger workers.

Adult fire ants are not capable of eating solid foods; they have a sieve-like structure in their throat that prevents them from swallowing solids.

Solid food particles are carried back to the colony and fed to the older larvae, which are capable of converting them to liquids. The larvae then regurgitate this liquid food to the tending workers who pass it to other workers, as well to the queen and younger larvae. This process is known as trophalyxis, and it is also common in other social insects, like termites and honeybees. This habit of sharing food among all members of the colony is the main reason baits are such an effective way to control fire ants​

 

[araceli]

Anyone ever try planting spearmint in these anthill?. I have been doing that, I heard they hate spearmint. They anthills seem lest active when I step on them. I have to really dig around to get them to come out. Before all I had to do was accidentally walk on them and they all would come out.
Also I heard they hate orange oil. I have yet to try that.
And of course the horny toad once ate them before they were all killed off by all poison that's been used.
If anyone has used spearmint or orange oil I'd love to hear your feedback.

 

[Gryphon]

If you're reluctant to use poison (and I would be too!) and your hens love to eat them, is there any way you can work in tandem? Could you shovel up enough dirt to make a funnel while your hens pick off then ants, and when they're full dump boiling water into the hole? That way the water would be more likely to get deeper into the tunnels and possibly kill the queen, which is the main target.

 

[Firefly1v]

We have used Tobacco dust. It is not as easy to find as it used to be but it is organic and something in it the ants (and other bugs) don't like. We have actually seen the mounds move to just 2 feet outside of the dusted acre.