Safe Ant Killers for Chickens??

[FrostRanger]

I despise rats, however they are part of a food chain, I just dont want them near my hens and horses feed bins !!!! i set traps and rehome them deep in the Everglade's far from the ranch. have cats but they are fat and lazy, the Terriers do a better job at keeping the numbers down in the barn and area

Please don't catch and release rats, especially somewhere like the Everglades. Rats can eat chicks of ground nesting birds are generally harmful to the environment. The rats that usually trouble people also aren't native and are not in short supply. Also if that rat finds its way to someone else's farm, it's now trap shy. That's assuming the rat doesn't get brutalized by any rats already in the area as they don't appreciate outsiders

If you catch a rat, for the sake of the environment and those around you, please don't release it elsewhere, just kill it. Aside from what I already said, relocating rats is illegal in some places too because they are invasive pests

 

[FrostRanger]

As for OP's question, any sort of soap will kill them too but it has to be applied directly. You could make a big batch of soapy water and pour it on the mound

 

[JPadronMiami]

Please don't catch and release rats, especially somewhere like the Everglades. Rats can eat chicks of ground nesting birds are generally harmful to the environment. The rats that usually trouble people also aren't native and are not in short supply. Also if that rat finds its way to someone else's farm, it's now trap shy. That's assuming the rat doesn't get brutalized by any rats already in the area as they don't appreciate outsiders

If you catch a rat, for the sake of the environment and those around you, please don't release it elsewhere, just kill it. Aside from what I already said, relocating rats is illegal in some places too because they are invasive pests

Good Morning!, I understand what your saying, believe me, I've learned alot since that last post and today I have a different perspective on the subject..... for reasons you've mentioned, and some others....suffice it to say that I no longer re-home rats, or mice...thank you for your feed back.

 

[JPadronMiami]

Has anyone tried spinosad to effectively combat fire ants in areas where their chickens free range? If you have, how long did it take to get the fire ants under control? Which precautions did you take to protect your chickens while bating the ant colonies?

How about nematodes? Has anyone effectively deployed them into the soil to kill off fire ants in areas around their chickens?

These questions are for people who deal with an uptick of fire ant activity in the warmer months. If you have them in your region, then you know how bad they can get and the damage they can do to property and animals.

Hello, not sure if this will help you however, we have fire ant issues intermittently during the peak summer months here in South Florida, we pour 2 to 3 gallons of scalding water into the mound early morning, it reaches the queen ant and brood, 60% effective, may require more than 1 application, however its safe for animals, may harm surrounding grass and plants, we also found that if the queen ant is not neutralized the colony could simply relocate to another area of the property, however al large percentage of the workers and soldiers are neutralized with this process. Hope this helps.

 

[JPadronMiami]

Has anyone tried spinosad to effectively combat fire ants in areas where their chickens free range? If you have, how long did it take to get the fire ants under control? Which precautions did you take to protect your chickens while bating the ant colonies?

How about nematodes? Has anyone effectively deployed them into the soil to kill off fire ants in areas around their chickens?

These questions are for people who deal with an uptick of fire ant activity in the warmer months. If you have them in your region, then you know how bad they can get and the damage they can do to property and animals.

Hello, not sure if this will help you however, we have fire ant issues intermittently during the peak summer months here in South Florida, we pour 2 to 3 gallons of scalding water into the mound early morning, it reaches the queen ant and brood, 60% effective, may require more than 1 application, however its safe for animals, may harm surrounding grass and plants, we also found that if the queen ant is not neutralized the colony could simply relocate to another area of the property, however al large percentage of the workers and soldiers are neutralized with this process. Hope this helps.

 

[Ezana4CE]

Hello, not sure if this will help you however, we have fire ant issues intermittently during the peak summer months here in South Florida, we pour 2 to 3 gallons of scalding water into the mound early morning, it reaches the queen ant and brood, 60% effective, may require more than 1 application, however its safe for animals, may harm surrounding grass and plants, we also found that if the queen ant is not neutralized the colony could simply relocate to another area of the property, however al large percentage of the workers and soldiers are neutralized with this process. Hope this helps.

@JPadronMiami It's worth a shot. Here they appear to use mole runs to travel underground. I stuck stick 2' down into small mounds. Boiling water beats nothing. I don't like the idea of cooping my hens up for so long because I used granules on mounds. I have a rooster that like to guide them to the granules that the rain doesn't wash away. I can't stand that he does that. I guess it's his way of keeping his girls together. Thank you for your input.