Help with ants

floridachick

In the Brooder
11 Years
Apr 6, 2008
20
0
22
Ray City, GA
hello ... I am new on here and new to having chickens ... I live in Georgia .. and I have a very bad red ant problem ... I was wondering .. should i get my yard sprayed or is there anthing i can put down .. that if the chickens perhaps .. ate it .. it would not hurt them? I perfer organic materials .. I haven't found anything out there ... Any help , please ??
 
there is a broadcast poison you can use that you cover the yard with and it is supposed to keep them out for up to year, but since we eat things from the yard, we've never tried it.

my father in law uses grits and boiling water - seriously. sprinkles some grits around the mound, goes back about an hour later and pours a copious amount of boiling water onto it. The ones that survive it, don't stay.

We've tried it a few times here, with mixed results. Personally I think the boiling water is just as effective without the grits, but... ?

i tried planting tansy around an area that I didn't want ants, and it seemd to work pretty well, too. don't think you could do this for a big area though.

I also read about another method that we've never tried... two people each take a shovel to two different mounds. each one grabs a shovel full of mound and runs and dumps it on the other mound, the theory being that the ants will fight and kill each other. We've never been brave (stupid?!) enough to try it. something about running with a shovel full of fire ants just seems like asking for trouble to me!
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good luck!
j
 
thanks mamaspider ... i will try the boiling water ... I wanna have a garden next to the chickens .. so that's why i say i prefer organic materials ... the whole shovel thing .. ya i am with you ... lol ...
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I heard you sprinkle the grits the day before it rains...

The theory behind the grits is that you give them the grits when it's dry outside, they eat them (esp the queen ant) and then it rains (or you pour water on the nest)... the workers collect the water and give some to the queen,she drinks some, the grits expand, the queen is killed and the colony disbands.

I've never tried it because we don't have those kind of ants. I've had good luck pouring gasoline on nests, but that kills your grass, too.
 
Get Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth. Dig right into the ants hole and just pour a small pile of that into it then sprinkle it all around. You will need to reapply after it gets wet or after 2 weeks if it blows away. People and animals can eat it without harm. Just make sure you do not get the chemical DE like the stuff they sell at pool places. Also try to get food grade not pet grade there is a difference. It is considered organic in that food grade is made from fossilized sea creatures. Hope this helps.

Bubba

PS Edit Try to find 50lb sacks of it, it will be much more cost effective for you. Buying little bags is a waste imo.
 
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I use 5% Sevin Dust sprinkled all over the mound, it doesn't bother the chickens & kills the ants in about a day. I don't add water. For ones located in places I need ant-free more quickly I have a spray I make with this Enforcer concentrate. Though I don't encourage it, I've seen the chickens gobbling up the ant larvae that had just been sprayed and it doesn't seem to bother them. The boiling water also works, I don't think the grits are needed.

I had hoped that both the chickens & the guineas would remedy our fire ant problem, I've offered them generous cash bonuses and central air in their coops if they would, but so far no birds have taken me up on the offer...
 
Do the grits thing, but don't worry about waiting till it's gonna rain. The ants will eat it, and, like all living things, they will drink water. With or without rain they must have a source of water or they wouldn't have built a mound. When they drink the grits they ate expand and the ants "explode". Problem solved.

Bob
 
Is there an entomologist in the house? (Or an ANTomoligist, ha ha?)

Because I don't know if ants eat grits and drink water like other animals. I've not seen ants carrying away the individual grit grains as if they plan to eat them, and I think that even if they did, it would be to chew even tinier bits off of them. Grits are grain and the ants I've observed seem to prefer sugary foods or flesh.

Also I don't know how ants get hydrated, do they really sip water or do they get the moisture they need from their food?

I've heard folks who have claimed the grits applications got rid of all their fire ants but I've never seen any such results. It just seemed like a waste of good food.

But I would like to learn more from others who know more about ants and/or have had personal experience using grits & witnessing the exploding ants.

Before I have to hand the deed to my property over to the fire ants who have taken over the place...
 

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