Fleas!

[welovechickens]

Ok, it looks like we have a flea problem.

The chickens are NOT infested, as far as I can tell. I believe the culprit(s) are the neighbors on the side and back who both have dogs. My mom and I have found fleas in the bathtub twice, and this morning I found a flea ON me. I've had several spots on me that appear to be flea bites.

My question is, what can we use to treat the yard to get rid of fleas? What is safe for chickens? My girls stay locked in their pens unless one of us is outside with them.

Thanks for any ideas or suggestions! (I will also be asking the neighbors to consider having their yards [and dogs] treated)

 

[ralleia]

Eek!

Giving this a bump because I'm not entirely sure. Maybe someone else will wade in on the subject.

Unfortunately your neighbors are probably providing hosts and a nice breeding ground for the fleas. I would hope that they would be interested in flea control, too. I use Top Spot on my dog and cat to prevent those problems.

Last summer I *did* find a flea on me on two occasions. Each time was just after I'd come in from the chicken coop. I felt something on my neck and when I touched there, trapped a small hard thing under fingers. I ran to grab and fill a bowl with water from the kitchen, and when I released found a flea.

I mixed Sevin dust and a little DE in with the wood shavings in the chicken coop. Then I set the chicken run up with a dust bath and put sand and wood ash in it, along with a little DE and Sevin dust also. That seemed to eliminate flea problems for the rest of the summer.

Probably time to set up the dust bath and treat the wood shavings again. I can't absolutely vouch for the safety of the Sevin dust and DE, however they are both fairly commonly used by poultry enthusiasts.

 

[BarefootMom]

DE but if they are from your neighbors dogs I don't think it will stop it.

When we had Fleas last year in our house I got rid of them using DE--sprinkled it along all the baseboards and in the carpet. Took care of them pretty well, but we had to also treat our cat. We now use frontline monthly on our cat and dogs. The chickens and ducks take care of most of the bugs in the yard.

 

[wolftracks]

Try Sevin. It will kill them off and not hurt your birds.

 

[mercedes]

Quote:
I am "just down the road" from you and let me tell you,this year has been the worst ever concerning fleas.Sevin and DE are ok,unless the problem has become an infestation.Spray the house,if you have dogs/cats make sure they are treated.Vacuum OFTEN!Don't necessarily blame the neighbors,fleas are EVERYWHERE this year.

 

[Baymule]

I use Boraxo along the fenceline and scatter it around the yard. It kills fleas!!

 

[welovechickens]

Thanks everyone!

No dogs/cats in our house, just the neighbors' houses. I only keep birds.

Good to know Sevin works....we already use that on our veggies, so we'll put some around the perimeter of the yard. I would have thought that with a drought, insect pests would be less bothersome, but we've had an awful time already with garden pests, and now things that bite US too. Yuck! Even thinking about it now makes me feel itchy all over.

 

[hennyannie]

You should consider treating the house the same day you treat the yard, I use foggers.

 

[so lucky]

Sevin does kill fleas but it doesn't stay active very long. You may have to keep using it regularly, like weekly. I guess the short life is one reason it is considered safe.

 

[fried green eggs]

We have sand gravel soil which fleas love and a few years ago we had grubs so bad that skunks started tearing up sections of our yard at night

also moles (that eat grubs) tearing yard up from below and our dogs started tearing up our lawn to kill the moles.

I was treating our dogs with the monthly flea frontline 2x a month and it wasn't enough. I didn't have much luck treating the yard with Sevin so for the last couple of years I have been using Grub Ex on the yard in the spring and fall and it also takes care of fleas and other above and below ground bugs too. It needs to be spread just before it rains hard to let pets out on it safely after treating yard but, it works! I still put monthly flea stuff on my dogs as a precaution but, they don't get fleas anymore!

Also cute little bunnies that hop across your yard

and squirels are flea carriers - big time