Termites!

[KCNC06]

I have recently discovered termites in some of our firewood. The good news is that the chickens have also discovered the termites and absolutely love them. Unfortunately this means that we have at least two very attentive hens waiting a little too close to our chopping block whenever we're splitting wood. Early hen gets the termite (or other tasty wood dwelling bugs) apparently.

Though the chickens are quite the hardy eaters, I'm not 100% convinced I want to count on them for termite control. We've moved our wood pile and got it off the ground, all the things you're supposed to do to prevent the little buggers (pardon the pun there) from getting back to their queen. My question now becomes, is there anything we can use to help kill the termites that won't harm the chickens?

The chickens free range all day every day, going into the coop at night, so I obviously don't want to put anything anywhere that could hurt my chickies. At the same time, I obviously don't want to risk having termites find their way to my house and start making a snack out of my house like it's the witch's house from Hansel and Gretel! Another reason for not wanting to use super toxic products that are dangerous to animals and humans is that we have a well, and quite frankly don't like the idea of pouring poisons into the ground that feeds into the water I drink.

I've read that Boric Acid and DE will kill termites, but I'm not sure if Boric Acid would also kill the chickens (or dogs/cats/whatever else happens to eat the stuff) and I'm not sure if the type of DE that kills termites is the kind that's safe to use around animals.

Any information/advice you can pass along would be greatly appreciated!

 

[CMV]

Call in a professional. It will be expensive, but worth it. They are nothing to mess around with. Termites do a phenomenal amount of damage in short order. I'd have your house inspected at the same time to make sure they aren't in there as well. Good luck.

I hate termites. They ate through the sill of my old house. That was pricey to fix.

 

[bywaterdog]

Quote:
True words, Boric Acid And D.M. are both good for a lot of things but killing termites are not one of them.

How long has the wood been at your house? It does not take long for the termites to advance on to other wooden structures, be safe and get it checked out.

 

[SurprisingWoman]

To be honest, there isn't really much of a danger of the wood that you bring into your home causing a termite infestation at all. The queen of the colony will still be outside, and they can't begin a new infestation without her. Unfortunately, if you have termites in your firewood then the stray termites that you might bring into your home on pieces of wood are the least of your problems.


Keeping Termites Out of Your Firewood
The best way to keep termites from becoming a problem when they have infested your firewood is to stop the infestation in the first place. Make sure that your firewood supply is several inches away from your home or its foundation, and take the time to create a firewood stack that doesn't have direct contact with the ground. Ideally you should use a piece of tin or other sheet metal as a base for your firewood stack, making sure that the bottom pieces of wood only touch the metal and not the ground itself. Having a metal base with small "walls" to create a shallow box can also be very useful, as it will not only give support to your firewood supply but will also prevent termites or other pests from just crawling over the edge of the sheet.

If you do discover a termite infestation, call an exterminator and have them inspect your home. Once they have completed their inspection, disassemble your firewood stack and re-stack it elsewhere to help root out the infestation. Use a metal sheet or other ground covering as mentioned above to help prevent additional infestations in the future.

http://www.articlesbase.com/tools-a...-your-firewood-supply-termitefree-323088.html

 

[KCNC06]

We had a termite inspection done recently and there's no evidence of termites anywhere near the house. The termites in the firewood are wet wood termites (or something like that) and from what I'm told wouldn't have any interest in the house unless the woods went away and our crawlspace under the house was quite damp. We literally live in the woods, acres and acres and acres of forest for miles around us - so we have to expect to see wood eating bugs around. We've moved into their environment after all.

We've moved our wood pile and got it up off the ground. The woodshed isn't finished yet, but we'll plan to make a "floor" out of metal or concrete to make it more difficult for the buggers to get to the wood in the future.

 

[CMV]

Glad to hear it. Good luck.