Hello from East Texas

Date sort Score sort
Billy73

Billy73

Hatching
7 Years
Apr 25, 2012
7
0
7
Hi all, I have been checking out this forum and a few other chicken sites for a few months now,and finally decided to take the plunge. Starting out small. Just got the 2 pullets in my avatar pic to start with. Using a bird cage for a brooder for now, with a 100 watt light.They are in my utility/laundry room for now while I finish the coop and run. Shoestring budget defines me
tongue.png
. I am building the coop with scrap wood I had, and 5 gallon pickle buckets. Also have a bunch of pvc pipe and plan to make a chicken tractor, so they can get more variety in their diet and clean me up some garden spots . I have a few questions which I hope nobody thinks are too dumb
hmm.png
. At what age would I put them in the chicken tractor? I only plan to have them in it when I am home and can keep an eye on them. East Texas is like the fireant capitol I think
somad.gif
. Will they eat ants, or do I need to be concerned about the ants harming them? Thanks so much for all the wonderful info here, Billy
 
Hello and welcome from Ohio....glad you joined. Don't know anything about ants but I'm sure someone will be along shortly that may be able to help. Good luck with your new chicks and enjoy the site
 
Welcome to BYC. If fire ants can take down a cow, they can take down a chicken. Sevin dust will take care of the fire ants and wont harm your birds. You can put your pullets out in a growout pen at 5-6 weeks old. It'd be safer to bring them back in at night until they get a little bigger.
 
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and the advice. Just added 3 more to my flock today
jumpy.gif
Time for a bigger brooder.
 
welcome-byc.gif
from New Mexico!

We have fire ants here too. They have never bothered the chickens much although the ants do eat their spilled food. LOL I am sure a sting from an ant would hurt them pretty badly as I have been stung by them while sitting with the chickens. I had to remove one hill near to the chicken run because of this. But I still see a few wandering around in the run. My chickens don't eat ants of any kind.

To get rid of a hill, you will need to remove the queen. So I had to dig the thing out and apply fire ant killer as other methods did not work for me at all.
 
Last edited:

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom