Fire ants in the coop

[Melissa2173]

So I've read some about chickens and fire ants. Some people said their chickens love to eat them so I wasn't too concerned when I saw them in the coop this morning. I went to check on them and they seem to be bothering my girls. They were stomping their feet when they were getting bitten and my BO has some visible bites. I've read about different methods of getting rid of them but where I am they just keep coming back.

So my main question is can they hurt my birds? They are 7 weeks old. Thanks.

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
Yup, they can. Sevin dust in the coop will send them running. Sprinkle corn meal around the outside of the coop and it will kill the nest in a week or so. Did it myself, so I`m a believer.......Pop

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Sprinkle corn meal around the outside of the coop and it will kill the nest in a week or so

If eating corn would kill ants, they would die from eating the chicken feed.​

 

[Chickens_in_a_nutshell]

Quote:
Yup, they can. Sevin dust in the coop will send them running. Sprinkle corn meal around the outside of the coop and it will kill the nest in a week or so. Did it myself, so I`m a believer.......Pop

I think I get it, the workers bring the corn to the queen and it expands inside her till she bursts right? Once the queen dies, the colony dies.

 

[CluckyJay]

I lost one of my hens to ants this year. Fire ants are terrible pests! Kill them as fast as you can. I use organic neem oil to kill the insect pests around the coops and in my garden.

 

[SentryFE]

Spray with Termador TC and you not have any more ants. You can get it at your Coop. It is pricey but it work like a champ.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I think I get it, the workers bring the corn to the queen and it expands inside her till she bursts right? Once the queen dies, the colony dies.

That's an "old wive's tale"

Ants can't swallow large particles, and many can't swallow solids at all.

The food is fed to the larvae, and they regurgitate a liquid that is fed to the Queen.

Other ants partially digest the food in their bodies and regurgitate to feed others.

In neither case do they "explode"

http://www.angelfire.com/hi/redant/insideoutside.html

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.​

 

[dawg53]

Sevin dust will get them.

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
That's an "old wive's tale"

Ants can't swallow large particles, and many can't swallow solids at all.

The food is fed to the larvae, and they regurgitate a liquid that is fed to the Queen.

Other ants partially digest the food in their bodies and regurgitate to feed others.

In neither case do they "explode"

http://www.angelfire.com/hi/redant/insideoutside.html

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.
​

I don`t know how it works, but it sounds like it shouldn`t. I can testify to the fact that corn meal killed 3 large colonies on my property that had been there for at least 2 years. They didn`t move, they were dead. Maybe it doesn`t work all the time, but for not much more than a $1, it`s worked for me and is worth a try.........Pop​

 

[ckmjreynolds]

I don`t know how it works, but it sounds like it shouldn`t. I can testify to the fact that corn meal killed 3 large colonies on my property that had been there for at least 2 years. They didn`t move, they were dead. Maybe it doesn`t work all the time, but for not much more than a $1, it`s worked for me and is worth a try.........Pop

I wonder, if the corn meal was made with Bt corn (corn genetically engineered to express the Bt insecticide) would the resulting cornmeal kill ants?

In other words can you both be right?

It's my understanding that a great deal of the corn we grow is either genetically engineered to be round-up resistant, express the Bt insecticide or both.

Chris​