SLUGS stealing chicken food!!!!!

[Tala]

Who knew????

I went out and put a lamp on my hospital crate, because a single 3+ week old shouldn't be alone without a light at night, and I was kinda surprised to find 3 giant slugs chowing down on her Flock Raiser, and at least 3 others sitting around beside the dish!!!!!

So what's the best way to exterminate slugs??? The chickens DO eat them when they are small, and our slug population is down considerably from the past years, but geeeeeeeze these were HUGE!!
I know I've heard something about using beer against them somehow (forget if it's the bait or the poison, lol)

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Beer attracts them and they drown in it
I'd get a small hanging feeder to keep them out, since you'll never kill them all

I'm not sure if chickens eat them. Maybe they do, since I hardly ever see a slug around here

 

[canada-goose]

Hmm. I think salt makes them dry up.

Sorry I can't help you more! I just don't know much about slugs!

 

[Dust Bunny]

get ducks

 

[flgardengirl]

slugs like protein like chicken food and cat food (before or after digestion) Found that out when we found some in the laundry room kitty litter box! EWWWW!! Place a dish of cheap beer outside of the chicks cage (where the chicks can't drink it) and the slugs will get in there and drown. They love beer! Don't use slug bait with poison around the chicks. A Hanging feeder might help some too.

ETA: My chickens don't like to eat slugs. I've seen them try before and they peck at them then quickly wipe thier beaks on the grass like they tasted something nasty lol.

 

[Tala]

All of my adult feeders do hang, which is I guess why I never noticed the problem before, but I am using a chick Mason jar feeder in the hospital crate.

When I pick up a log or something, the chickens go crazy cleaning the bugs and slugs out from under it. You can tell their preferences by what they eat first though. They gobble up worms, and "grub" looking things, and most crawling bugs, then snails, and finally they eat the small slugs last.

 

[NurseNettie]

Hang your feeder, sprinkle DE around the base of it ( will cut them up and kill them) and small dishes with beer in them will attract them, and they'll drown in it. We put nearly empty beer cans in our garden rows the last 2 years, ( just a sip or two left) lieing sideways, and in a week or so, they were just full up of slugs!!! The DE sprinkled around the plants they seemed to like ( ie cabbages), as well as on the leaves, kept them away too.

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