How the heck do I get rid of fire ants inside the chicken run?? 😱😱😱

[Carolyn Tearne]

We are inundated with fire ants, I have even lost quail to fire ants. I have tried every method, every chemical out there and nothing worked until I found this....

View attachment 2749771

This WILL kill the entire mound. But use it very carefully, do NOT sprinkle it willy nilly, it stinks like a dead carcass and NOTHING kills the smell but months of time. So use it ONLY on the mound, don't go around the coop or it will gag you for months! Sprinkle it around and on the mound with a light powdering and give it a few days. Repeat if necessary.

 

[vawolfmom]

There is another thread that talks about sulphered molasses. Read through that before you poison.

 

[Ascholten]

A friend sprinkled that stuff on an anthill. he used the ortho brand, probably the same thing, yes it smells like straight up ass. Followed directions, and one of his girls, seen the dead ants in the hill we guess, and feasted, you could see where she dug a bit, and died two days later. He said he could tell she was poisoned a few hours after she got caught on the mound, but there was nothing he could do.

I use the ortho in the front yard, it works wonders on the little sob's, but in the back yard where the girls can get to it, I cover the area I sprinkled with a burlap sack and put a cinder block on top of that to keep them absolutely OUT of it, after seeing what happened to Mikes chicken.

Make several steps to ensure they can NOT get into it, dig in it,eat anything around it etc etc.

Also, just a heads up. The nature of fire ants, their mounds can be HUGE, you may only see a bit on top but it can have 40k bastards down in it and another 40k eggs spreading a few feet !! So if you think you can just tappy tap a tinkle sprinkle from a tiny baby teaspoon on them,... think again.

Typically when you poison them, you'll kill about 80 percent, they will split up and tend to form smaller mounds 5 to 10 feet out from the original one, so you may need to watch very carefully for this, and hit it again, sometimes 3 to 4 times to finally be rid of that mound entirely,.

Also, some info that may nor may not be useful. Their bites last year were very potent, this year they don't seem too bad (or maybe me having bees now and being stung some times made me a bit immune to it, dunno) .. either way it is NOT a joke, while you may survive the blister, pus pimples etc, if that is on a foot etc it CAN infect, and you get a staph set in there, NOW you have a problem.

Aaron

 

[Ascholten]

Another thing you can do which is kind of fun in a morbid way. If you have more than one mound. Take a shovel dig up one mound, as big a shovel full as you can get, walk over and pour it on top of the other ant mound. They will goto war and kill each other off. Now you have only a fraction of the ants left to have to worry about, saves on poison too that way.

Aaron

 

[Vicker]

DE always takes care of mine

 

[Saaniya]

I’ve been battling against all different kinds of ants and I’m losing the fight, especially the fire ants!! I shovel the feed that falls almost daily and have recently changed to a pellet feed/new feeder which does help some. I see them all over the ground and don’t want my feather babies compromised. It’s so hot here in the desert that I do mist the run several times a day, so that gives them (ants) water I only gives treats now by hand and pick up any that they didn’t eat. What the heck can I do? I see the fire ant mounds starting inside the run versus outside. I’ve done gallons of vinegar and used diatomaceous earth without success. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Sprinkler Turmaric Powder
Is the best natural way

 

[Ascholten]

First i heard of tumeric.

I got a few hills out front.
I am going to try one with some tumeric see what it does and another with de.

does the tumeric kill or just drive them away? need a kill shot here, not just a goto the neighbors yard.

Aaron

 

[alwaystj9]

First i heard of tumeric.

I got a few hills out front.
I am going to try one with some tumeric see what it does and another with de.

does the tumeric kill or just drive them away? need a kill shot here, not just a goto the neighbors yard.

Aaron

Keep us posted! I would absolutely love an organic method that actually worked.

 

[JenniMcChick]

Pour boiling water on the mounds.

I've tried this. Mound just ends up popping up again elsewhere. Especially after rain, which we've had A LOT of here in the Tx Hill Country over the past 10 days.
I think the ants are also getting smarter. Some of the mounds are relocating in my large potted plants. Guessing they know I'm not about to pour boiling water in there.

I've also used corn starch & corn meal. Sprayed mixture of vinegar, water & dish soap with some lavender EO mixed in for good measure. Yet the ants are definitely winning!

 

[JenniMcChick]

Keep us posted! I would absolutely love an organic method that actually worked.

SAME!