I Hate Ants!!!!!!

[pkw]

I had a silke hen sitting on eggs. The other morning when I went out to the pen the hen was off the nest with a couple of chicks. I thought this was strange because she had quite a few more eggs in the nest and she is good about hatching out most of her eggs. When I check the nest it was full of ants! One of the eggs had pipped and when I picked it up ants poured out of it. I open the egg thinking the chick was dead and it peeped. I peeled the egg off of it killing ants as I went. I was able to keep the yoke sac intact and I wraped the chick up in a wet cloth and put it in my incubator with the other eggs that hadn't hatched yet. This moring it's still alive and peeping. Another chick has hatched also. So I'm hopeful that it will make it.

I wanted to ask you how your chick that the ants was in the egg is doing?? How bad did the ants bite the poor little chick? I hope the chick makes it. What a bad start to life being attacked by ants​

 

[2dancingrats]

borax powder will kill any bugs with 6 legs. I wouldn't use it around my birds, but its great in the house. I sprinkle it around door and window sills and in my basement. The first time I sprinkled my basement I found thousands of box elder beetlles dead on the floor the next day! Its also great for deoderizing your laundry.

 

[macmama]

Quote:
You just have to get food grade. My local feed store had it in 50 lb bags for $24. I have flies ALL over my grass (it's a really bad year for flies in AZ) so I dusted all of the bad spots. Already today there is a very noticeable difference. I'm going to put it on my ant-hills too (it's really too bad the chickens don't like ants-- they'd eat like kings!)

 

[snowflake]

We have had a bad year for ants her also, thanks for all the tips I hadn't thought of using the DE I have stall dry with DE,that should work on aunt hills. I use it in the coop maybe that is why there are no ants in there. My ant don't eat the ants but they will eat the eggs, if you disturb a nest the hens gobble up the eggs before the ants can move them. every egg eaten means less ants.We get them second floor bathroom every couple yrs. usually Terro kills them off in 2 weeks , this year it took 4. Yuk ants stink.

 

[pfenning_pfarm]

I heard something about ants not crossing a chalk line, I don't know if that is an old wives tale or not though. I am glad I found this thread because the other half was gonna spray for ants if there were bad this year (which they usually are) But will tell him he cant spray anything round the house if it is bad for chickens. One of those things I just hadn't thought of.

Good luck with the chick, I hope it's ok.

 

[sreihart]

Quote:
Where do you get borax powder? I know that Terro contains borax and it does seem to work. I've had the worse ant problem this year than I've ever had. It's taken at least 4-6 weeks to get rid of them and then when I think they're gone, another group comes in.

 

[downstownlady]

Walmart carries a natural powder alternative that contains clove oil, peppermint and some other natural ingredients. They also have a liquid of the same stuff (although, I prefer the powder). We sprinkled it along the perimeter of our house early spring and I haven't seen any bugs except flying ones that have entered. Last year I had these little ants we call "piss ants" around here and I didn't think we would ever get rid of them! Fire ants are real bad around here and they are mounding up alot. I plan to try the vinegar...as it is alot cheaper than cornmeal and it didn't seem to bother them too much last year when I tried using it. I have some DE that I plan to put in the coop and I also plan to spray some of the liquid stuff mentioned above inside and out and along the perimeter of the coop in hopes it works!!! Gosh how terrible for the baby chick...poor thing.

 

[Willow's Meadow]

Ohhhhhh thats horrible!!!! Little black ants? Or were they red or realllly big black ones? Thats awesome that the chick is surviving! You should name it Lucky.

 

[downstownlady]

They were little bitty black ones...no bigger than a poppy seed. They were more irritating than anything else, because of their size they were able to get into just about everything. Made me not use poppy seeds for a long time, as I just knew I would be consuming ants...ick... What's funny about this is I have had to clean up chicken poop and have gotten it on my hand a few times and it didn't bother me a bit. Go figure. LOL

 

[JLS]

I am surprised that the chickens dont eat the ants. I had a huge nest of the half black and half red ants. My orps were 5 months old when I turned them loose on the ants. I was amazed at the determination of my girls. The ants swarmed and bit them but my ladies had the nest completely gone in less than 30 minutes!!

Can you move the chickens to a different area and then spray Bayer Advanced™ Home Pest Control Indoor & Outdoor Insect Killer? It says that it can be used indoors and is safe for children & pets once it's completely dry. Maybe you could put it on the outside of the coop? Then there would be a barrier against the ants.