Fire ants?

[SunnyDayz]

What can I do to get rid of the fire ants in the run? We have dirt/sand floors and the ants always seem to be there. We use DE, and it works for a little while, but after it rains and washes away they come back. I'm tired of getting bitten up when I'm in there and I'm SURE my chickens hate it too!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Hanging feeders.

If you are tossing food in the run then the ants are there for the food supply.

 

[SunnyDayz]

Quote:
We have hanging feeders and waterers. I don't put treats on the ground anymore, and if they did have something on the ground (that doesn't get gobbled up in 2 seconds, lol) I remove it promptly.
I don't see any ant hills or obvious lines. They are just everywhere.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

The only thing that I've seen that works is armidillos and guineas. We have fire ants in the pastures but have never had them in any of the houses or pens. The poison they sell around here is more like fire ant fertilizer in my opinion. Makes 'em grow faster instead of killing them. My wife does use a mix of crushed pepper, dishwashing liquid and other stuff that works (Somewhat).

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Hmmmm ants are always attracted to a food supply...maybe the run is between home and food supply? I'd be finding that mound...even if I have to follow those pesky ants

Insects have been really BAD this year!

 

[SunnyDayz]

I am convinced that fire ants are attracted to anything they shouldn't be near

Not just food. There are mounds in our yard, but Dh takes care of them daily with poison (just a tiny sprinkle of powder, we avoid treating the whole yard). I can't use that near the chickens and I think those darned ants know it!

No mounds near the coop though... maybe in the woods nearby. I'll check tomorrow.

 

[Tropical Chook]

I'm surprised your chickens don't eat them because mine certainly do. In fact, from what I can tell, if something moves, and it's small enough, it gets eaten.

Seriously though, we had them here but since we started keeping chickens, they're gone, and I do remember seeing our birds eat them in the beginning. We also don't have ticks anymore

I have also heard that the ants won't hangout anywhere near peppermint plants, but of course I'm not sure if the plants would survive in your run/coop.

Apart from a few flies and a few mossies, the inside of our coop is as barren as a nuclear test site. I read on here that chickens won't eat peppers or any kind of chilly, so I went ahead and planted a few along the outside of the run before ours started free ranging. Well, on the very first day out, they ate the lot apart from the main stems which were to thick for them. Anyways, if you have some mint, you could always give it a try.

Good luck

 

[Shannoniganshens]

Cinnamon, I had all kinds of ants tiny to giant black headed fire ants, they crawled up my legs one day, bit the tar out of me, Granny said CINNAMON!!! She said they hate it! So I went and bought several cinnamon spices and sticks, dusted my yard and chunked the sticks in their bed holes , next day wasn't an ant in sight. It washes away of course, but I just do it again, another idea is those cinnamon scented pine cones, I'm started some this week, they're getting a good soak. I don't pour it directly in my coop, but the dust will blow that way and there's never ants with my ladies. Flies, mosquitoes,fleas and ticks, I planted garlic, bordered the outside of my coop and my yard, and throw some "garlic dust" down, we my dogs,cats, chickens and kids, I cook heavy with it and the dogs get some in their food, no blood suckrs all summer.

 

[StupidBird]

I taught my chickens to dig up anthills for the grubs. Now, very few anthills.

Basically, I got a stick and scratched up the hill in the garden while free ranging. When they finally got it, after several tries, there are not any hills when they free range frequently. Still have some ants, but nowhere near the numbers. I love my chickens JUST for that alone. I hate fire ants.

 

[Miltonchix]

Quote:
Chicken poop is a food supply. I had to sit in my run and fix my automatic waterer yesterday. The ants were carrying off chunks off poop. No other source of food for them in my run. I left them (chickens) all in the run yesterday and sprayed Bayer insect killer around the perimeter of coop and run as a barrier. So far it seems to be keeping them out. I've been stung so many times by those @$@# things this year I don't even feel them anymore. Maybe I should start wearing shoes?