Fireants! ... or is it Fire Ants?? Either way...

[Sunny Side Up]

I've reached an uneasy truce with our fire ants, I don't bother them as long as they don't build their mounds in areas where we walk or sit. For those I'll pour boiling water all over & around their mounds, sometimes first taking a shovel & poking a deep hole in the middle of the mound. When I clean out the coops I sprinkle some sort of insecticidal dust around the places where they set & lay, in & around the nest boxes. And before I place a broody hen in her pen I'll sprinkle the dust all around there.

If I've left the faucet open on the hose capped with the sprayer nozzle it will be filled with scalding hot water. I will look around for a nearby fire ant mound to spray with that hot water while I wait for new cooler water to come through. If I can't find a mound handy, I'll try to boil some weeds instead.

 

[gsim]

Here is an addendum to my earlier post about DE. If you can find the fire ant hill, just pour a gallon of club soda down in it. The CO2 will do the rest, suffocating the whole nest. Best done at night when the critters are all in the nest. Their nests can be 30 ft deep in some soils. CO2 is heavier than air tho, so no matter what, it will get down to where they are.

 

[silkiechick05]

bahahaha!

Yeah who would want to waste some perfectly authentic coca cola on some ants??

Club soda all the way!!

 

[babalubird]

OK. You'll get mixed reports on the success of what I'm about to suggest if you do an internet search. We've had this not work when weather conditions are not right and work like a miracle when the weather conditions are right.

Our farm is in central Texas and our 16 acres was absolutely infested with fireant mounds. We tried specially-purchased nemotodes that are supposed to attack the fire ants as well as other insect grubs in the soil. The first time it didn't work, because #1 the soil was way too dry and #2, we put it on during the sunny part of the day and sun kills the nemotodes.

The second time, early this spring, we hit it just right, right before a rainy spell and we put them on in the evening and continued by flashlight into the night. I know we didn't find all the mounds, but apparently the heavy rains that followed spread them over the entire field. We were almost completely fireant free all summer until September. I think by then the heat and sun had taken the tole on the nemotodes and new fire ants had moved in from the surrounding properties. We are again infested and only got half a treatment out before I had to go out of town.

I swear by those nemotodes, but you have to hit them early spring or during fall rains when it's still warm enough to let the nemotodes do their work. You can buy them at some organic feed/seed stores or order from online or catalog suppliers of beneficial insects.

I also love Diatomaceous earth, and yes, the food grade will work and is probably preferable. I remember catching it here by someone for bringing up using DE around chickens, that it is bad for their respiratory system. Well, maybe it is. They tell you not to breath it. But DE is recommended in Andy Lee's DAY RANGE POULTRY. So don't know what to tell you other than fire ants seem worse to me. I'd probably use it before poisons.

Connie

 

[Tala]

The only thing that works for me is gasoline.
We tried the stuff from Wal-Mart (it was Ortho brand) and it didn't do jack squat. We tried some other stuff and the ants just moved from our house to the neighbors and then back again in a few weeks. Finally in frustration I did the typical redneck thing and doused them with lawnmower gas. They didn't come back for almost a year!

I guess you'd just have to pen your birds up elsewhere for a couple of days. Gas has a pretty short "half life" when it's exposed to air and sunshine, so I'd keep the birds away until the smell dissipates.

That's what I'd do.

 

[mvktr2]

Magnifying glass! It'll take a while, but you get the personal satisfaction of burning the little suckers one by one!

Look on the bright side if any neighbors see you doing it they'll be too scared of you to ever mess with you!

I'll stop now...

Man I wish they'd find something to naturally wipe these suckers out like that fly they were talking about introducing!

Schlante,
Phillip

 

[Miltonchix]

Quote:

 

[MaggieRae]

I use DE to slow them down, then my hens *mostly my easter eggers* have no problem taking care of the rest.

I often will split the mounds into three smaller mounds (with a rake) so they can attack them all one at a time.

 

[momof2monkeys]

I use Medina Orange Oil and I LOVE it!!!

You mix 1/2 cup with 1 gallon of water and pour it on the mound or trail of ants. It has to touch their bodies, but man oh man is it satisfying! The oil eats away at their exoskeleton and kills them instantly. It's best to use after the rain when they all come up as to not drown. I get very giddy when the little suckers come flowing out of the mound carrying their eggs to safety but they die instead. I am a peaceful person usually, I wish no harm to other living creatures, but I live in Texas and the fire ants must die.

I wouldn't let the chickens drink it but once the ants are dead, I just spray the area so it's diluted more. I use it in my compost also.
I get mine at Lowes and it runs around $16. Good Luck!