Help!!! Ants In The Coop!!!

[thenewbckyrdchicknfrmer]

hello everyone, well like the titles says i have ants in the coop, the coop hpuses one chicken wich im getting rid of and its going to be my new coturnix quail pen, well as i was cleaning the coop out, in the corner i scooped away some bedding and ants went everywhere! theres eggs in there and all! no one around here carries food grade DE or orange guard, what can i use to get rid of them? the quail arent going to there for about a week. what can i do that would be safe for the quail???? please help!

 

[Blue Skys]

I guess it has a dirt bottom. You could try dried molasses (from the feed store) or blood meal. I have heard those suggested for fire ants - so if it gets rid of fire ants, I would imagine it would get rid of any other type of ant. - You could carefully pour boiling water on it. There's lots of things you can do without using poison. Hope that helps!!

 

[cockadoodle]

Order some Amdro Ant Block online if you can't find it locally. Sprinkle it around the coop, but not where the chickens or other animals you care about can get to it. If you can follow their trail back to the ant hole, declare war on it, a teaspoon or so of that amdro stuff next to their house and they'll be gone in about a week. The ants will pick it up, take it to their queen, feed her, and the whole colony messing up your coop will dissapear. It's that simple usually. Worst case, you may need 2 applications. If you know where their ant hole is, even better, hit them with gallons of boiling water, use gas, that amdro I mentioned above, whatever it takes. That's just what I would do though

I have made a hobby out of destroying ants some years. I'm not a big fan of chemicals, but whatever it takes...

Good luck
Mark

Just re-read the original post, if the ant nest is in the coop, skip the chemicals inside of course... bummer cause that stuff really works. I'd go straight for a pot full of boiling water in that case. Grits also work for a lot of people, I used to take out fireant nests with that in Georgia. Boiling water is instant gratification tho in most cases.

 

[Danceswithchicks]

Get all of the food and droppings out of the coop. These attract ants, so if you take away the ant food source they should leave. Let any chicken eat their food outside of the coop.

 

[Jenski]

Diatomaceous earth does indeed work on ants, as long as it is not too wet outside. Here is a link for the company I use - - food-grade, good quality. You might be able to have it shipped if there is not a distributor close to you.

http://www.perma-guard.com/

http://perma-guard.com/distributors.html


The DE is safe to consume, so you can sprinkle it in your bird pens. I have not found anything else to use for ants that is not toxic to chickens.

Good luck.

 

[chickaddict]

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question. Don't chickens eat ants? I have 3rir that almost wiped out the ant population in my backyard last summer. I'm not complaining mind you, but your concern has me wondering if it was dangerous of me to allow them to do that.

 

[kycowgirlchick]

You can order DE from the poultry suppliers. I know that Cutlers Pheasant Supply carries and ships in small quantities.

 

[kezabel]

Quote:
Yeah thats what I was thinking, as soon as my chickens see an ant they run to eat it. We no longer have ants in the backyard either(where the chickens are anyway)

 

[fordmommy]

My friend is a landscaper and says BAKING SODA is toxic to ants. I have never tried it myself. But she uses it and swears by it.
I don't know about how it would affect chickens. That would be another good question.

But birds do love to eat them!

 

[barred-rocks-rock]

i once got scared when i let my 2 week old chicks outside for the first time, and realized their was an anthill in the baby coop. It was funny watching them eat every single ant. They love them.