Roaches!!

[purpletree23]

DE won't kill roaches. You have to take everything out of the coop including bedding and feeders and waterers. Sweep everything down very well. If your coop is pretty airtight I would set off a bug bomb or 2. I hate roaches! The aeresol should get into all the cracks and kill the roaches and any other bugs you have in there. If it is not air tight I would use a roach killing spray (i've seen it at Lowes or Home Depot) and spray the heck out of the cracks and along the floor and such.

Open all the windows and doors to air everything out well for a few hours. Before putting in new bedding I would use a roach powder on the floor especially in the corners and along the walls. Put in at least 5 inches of new bedding and make sure you clean the waterer and feeder before using again. If your feed was not in a covered container I would throw it away. It is probably loaded with roach eggs. If your feed is not covered pick up a 20 gallon garbage can while you are at the store. They cost around $15.00.

The stores do carry a roach control product where the roach goes in but doesn't come out. I would get a bunch of these. You don't want the roaches moving from the coop to the house. You can't poison the roaches because if a chicken eats a poisoned roach the chicken can be poisoned.

Hope this helps.

 

[ClairedeLune]

We have a ton of earwigs and my chickens love them!
I've never seen a roach here, thank goodness! Though I suspect my chickens would eat roaches if they saw one.

 

[ivan3]

Do you live in a wooded area? If you do, you've probably got the same variety as we do (wood roaches). If they aren't in the coop they'll be under the peeling sections of Shag bark hickories and infesting White Oak Snags (not nearly as active as German/American roaches). DE is candy to these guys. DE works best in low humidity, the roaches aren't found there.

The chooks eat them when they appear. As we live in the woods we pretty much put up with them as any war would be futile.

If you have your flock's wt. in roaches then hit`em with pyrethrins.

 

[Brindlebtch]

Our coop is raised 18" off the ground. I caulked all the cracks (I used over a case of caulk) and painted. I mix DE with the pine chip litter and in the nest box hay. The coop is open during the day because the hanging feeder is in there, so they go in and out during the day. If a bug makes the mistake of showing itself it gets eaten in short order. I have seen them grab and eat roaches on the ground outside but have never ever seen a roach in the coop.

I agree w/ purpletree23 about cleaning out the coop. But then I would caulk. Get one of the tools that presses the caulk down into the cracks so the chickens won't peck at it. If you don't give them a place to hide they can't live there.

 

[ranchhand]

As the OP said, they are only in there at night, not seen during the day. My chickens don't eat at night, they roost. So they don't eat the roaches.

We are in the woods and have billions of the horrid things, and they fly AT you instead of away.

I've had the best results with boric acid powered liberally aroung the entire perimeter of the coop and puffed into the cracks everywhere. It has to be refreshed after a heavy rain, but it's easy to do.

 

[lavacaw]

Had them in the storage bin I keep all my feed in and just dusted it real good with DE...they, along with the ant invasion, are all gone! Works like a charm.

 

[Soccer Mom]

What you need are guineas. Bugs don't stand a chance with my flock.

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

Go online or to Ace Hardware and get some OrangeGuard. It is all natural. You can spray it anywhere. It does kill roaches and ants as well. It has a great orange smell also. I used it in our coop to get rid of ants worked like a charm.

 

[RIArmySGT]

I am having the same prob. 2 questions what is DE and is that orangeguard safe to use?