OMG Cockroaches

[TheSpiceGirls]

I'm a total city dweller with two hens. I sometimes go out at night just to make sure they went off to roost safely. (Their house is inside a predator protected run so I don't need to lock them up at night.)

Anyway, I've been seeing a cockroach or two at night. ACK!!! I put out a heavy sprinkling of DE but the rain washes it in and the girls do a good job kicking the rest of it into the ground too. So I decided to go out with a flashlight and my pest pistil filled with DE and just go hit them directly. It doesn't kill them right away which is such a buzz kill. And the four white roaches running around after I spritzed them was really gross. I know I'll need to do this for several weeks to make a dent.

So I'm really just venting more than anything. I don't want to go the poison route. Not yet. I'd go with a sticky trap but I'm worried about catching other things on it.

I've read about boric acid and maybe I'll try that around the outside of the run.

Anyone else have this issue?

 

[SilkieBantams]

Chickens love to eat roaches.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Quote:
Yes, but I'm only seeing them after dark when the girls have gone to bed.

I'm sure they are gobbling up any that they find during the day. And if I step on and squash any, they are gone the next morning so I KNOW they are eating those. ACK!

 

[dawg53]

You can use a sprayer containing bleachwater to flush them out of nooks and cranies. Kill and get rid of them, they can possibly infect chickens with eyeworm.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Quote:
Yes, I've read about the awful diseases they can spread. YUCKY!!! Truth is, I'm not quite sure where they are coming from. I think they are coming out of the neighbor's bushes.

I'll get out in their run this weekend and turn over everything and see what I can flush out.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

An update on roaches. I cleaned out their run yesterday and turned everything upside down. I only found one roach hiding under an upside down flower pot that I put their feeder on. I tossed it in front of my Jersey Giant who snapped it in half and ate both halves. YUMMO!!!

So I bought a couple of Roach Motels which are nothing more than small boxes lined with super sticky goo on the inside. No poison. The roaches skitter in there to hide and get stuck in the goo.

I put two of these right next to their feeder and covered it with a big ceramic saucer, just leaving about an inch gap for the critters to skitter under and this morning, BINGO! I had four stuck to one trap. None in the one in front of it. So clearly they like the furthest, darkest place to hide. And I like the fact that I can put this trap right next to their feeder or at the source of the issue with out any risk to my hens.

I think I'll keep doing this indefinitely. Definitely until the traps are staying empty for weeks on end. But since they are just a couple of bucks each and there's no risk to my hens, I think I'll just leave one under the saucer all the time to make sure this never becomes an issue.

 

[ZoeZoo]

its good most of them are gone but......

EW! roaches are not my fave animal

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Quote:
Oh, I know! Rats, no problem. Mice, sure, bring it. Ants, yep. But roaches. I just gage whenever I see one.

 

[ebbykay]

If you live in the south like I do, you get use to them. Just picked up two dying roaches this morning. Momma always said, If you keep a dirty house, you have dirty roaches, If you keep a clean house, you have clean roaches.

We just have to keep on top of them all the time.

Here is a quick and cheap trap you can make: clean mayo or large jar, shortening smeared about two inches down around the inside of the rim, we always put banana peels in the bottom of the jar or any other tasty treat. Set it out at night and the next morning you should have several. Just through the jar away or empty and reset for the next night.

Evelyn

 

[EM Squared Farms 2]

They LOVE to burrow in the ground. You should shovel out a layer of dirt in their pen. Also if you put the feeders on a brick to raise it(like I do with some of my feeders) cockroaches will live under there. They will burrow about 4 inches in the ground maximum.