Texas

[kenmlang]

But what did y'all do with them. We have had only two instances with Hawks. You can't shoot them since it's illegal. But we have to let our chickens free range for feed cost reasons. How did you guys keep them out?

If you are out with your birds, and the hawks won't go away, just fire a shotgun or pistol into the ground a couple of times. They will usually scatter then, and not come back for a while. As long as you don't shoot them, this is legal to do. Of course if you a are in the city limits, this may not be legal. Although if you mare on 10 acres or more, it is legal to shoot. The key to keeping your birds safe while they are free ranging is to provide them with some cover to run to if they detect a predator.

 

[wilded]

Went to the Iduma Mother's day poultry auction today and bought these for my wife. Three beautiful Roosters and four red sex link hens.

 

[cheepcheep riri]

Well, fire ants seem to be the things that grow most prolifically on my property... They invade my raised growing beds, eat my seedlings and plants, and crawl into my gloves (and boots/socks) to bite me. I have some that completely overran some potatoes planted in a bag, and last year they ate an entire head of cabbage in a week.  

Speaking of fire ants, have they ever been an issue with anyone's chickens? (Getting bitten badly, invading coop/runs, etc.) They're vicious. I have a good natural way to treat mounds and invaded pots, but wanted to get a sense of the health injury risk and how hyper I should be about prevention.

- Ant Farm

We once had two chicks about 5 years ago that were raised by a broody that were taken away from her. We found them in their coop one morning about two months old covered in fire ants. They did not appear sick. So we just assumed they were eaten by fire ants.

 

[cheepcheep riri]

Also I use cinnamon as a natural deter any for ants. We would sprinkle it around the coop and it would keep out mites,ants, lice, etc.

 

[topdycke]

If you are out with your birds, and the hawks won't go away, just fire a shotgun or pistol into the ground a couple of times. They will usually scatter then, and not come back for a while. As long as you don't shoot them, this is legal to do. Of course if you a are in the city limits, this may not be legal. Although if you mare on 10 acres or more, it is legal to shoot. The key to keeping your birds safe while they are free ranging is to provide them with some cover to run to if they detect a predator.

we have lots of cover and I encourage the crows by putting out sheled peanuts. The crows will go after any Hawks in the area

 

[needlessjunk]

I got it out of Texas Organic Vegetable Gardening (by Howard Garrett & Malcolm Beck). If you have the ability to buy Garrett Juice where you are, the easiest is to mix 1 part orange oil and 2 parts Garrett Juice concentrate, and use at anywhere from 2-6 oz per gallon (make it up fresh each time). I use a lower dose (1 oz orange oil/2 oz Garrett juice per gallon) if it's near my plants or in a pot (in case you might burn roots), and full strength (2 oz orange oil/4 oz Garrett juice per gallon) for mounds in the yard/not around my plants. The book says to use as a spray, but I use it as a mound drench.  Works better than anything I've ever used, totally knocks out really established big mounds. AND it helps the plants. I just repotted several citrus trees, including a sweet kumquat tree that had had its pot badly invaded. I had soaked that pot with the lower dose of anti-ant stuff about 2 weeks ago. Repotting yesterday, the roots were the healthiest of all the repotted trees, and that's the only thing different about that tree's care.

If you don't have access to Garrett juice (or can't make some - there's a recipe in the book, in involves compost tea, molasses, garlic, and some other stuff), you can also use 1 part compost tea, 1 part molasses, and 1 part citrus oil (again, using this mix at 2-6 oz per gallon). They hate compost tea, but I have found that compost/compost tea alone is only partially effective (in my yard).  I think it used to be marketed premixed as "Anti-fuego", but I'm not sure it's still available. 

I don't try to eradicate them everywhere, just where they are specifically where I don't want them (e.g., invading growing space). As I understand it, fire ants in your yard help keep out/away fleas (can't remember if it's ticks as well). YMMV.

The book is amazing with all sorts of other natural pest control ideas, as well as a great veggie book. I used it so much that my first copy actually fell apart and I had to get another one. Another great book is the Texas Bug Book...

- Ant Farm

Edit: I see you're in Round Rock. I'm in the San Antonio area. You shouldn't have trouble finding Garrett Juice and orange oil. Try your local nurseries or Lowes...

Thanks, I'll be on the hunt for it.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

@ cheep cheep riri:

Yikes. I was thinking of that sort of scenario. I read One Hundred Years of Solitude in high school, and I've had nightmares about ants ever since... (If you haven't read it, let's just say that it ends with something very bad happening with ants.)

- Ant Farm

 

[kenmlang]

@ cheep cheep riri:

Yikes. I was thinking of that sort of scenario. I read One Hundred Years of Solitude in high school, and I've had nightmares about ants ever since... (If you haven't read it, let's just say that it ends with something very bad happening with ants.)

- Ant Farm

Does your method work on leaf cutter ants??

 

[chick-among-us]

Well, fire ants seem to be the things that grow most prolifically on my property... They invade my raised growing beds, eat my seedlings and plants, and crawl into my gloves (and boots/socks) to bite me. I have some that completely overran some potatoes planted in a bag, and last year they ate an entire head of cabbage in a week.  

Speaking of fire ants, have they ever been an issue with anyone's chickens? (Getting bitten badly, invading coop/runs, etc.) They're vicious. I have a good natural way to treat mounds and invaded pots, but wanted to get a sense of the health injury risk and how hyper I should be about prevention.

- Ant Farm

We once had two chicks about 5 years ago that were raised by a broody that were taken away from her. We found them in their coop one morning about two months old covered in fire ants. They did not appear sick. So we just assumed they were eaten by fire ants.

I have found I chicksk covered in fire ants still zipping or just hatched in the night... Mom still trying to cover the baby even though they bite her.....horrid things....I use seven dust in these coops. In the nest boxes brooding areas and haven't had it again. Wicked lesson that one was.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Does your method work on leaf cutter ants??

I don't actually know - but it's worth a try.

EDIT: Texas Organic Vegetable Gardening book implies that it will work for all types of ants. Looked them up in the Texas Bug Book, which says this:
"Natural control: Lizards and birds love to eat them. Thick mulch around all plants helps. Beneficial nematodes help control all pests that live in the ground."
"Organic control: Treat the mounds with plant oil products such as EcoEXEMPT." (I have no idea what EcoEXEMPT is.)

I interpret this as meaning it will work (with the orange oil). I have many types of ants in my yard, not just fire ants, and I think I've had these before (makes more sense that they are the ones who might have eaten the cabbage...). I just today found a new garden bed invaded with yet a new looking type of ant (they bit, but not fire ants), and true fire ants have built this strange mound stretching between stacked bags of compost (discovered when lifting a bag from the top. Ow!!!). In my experience the orange oil and Garrett juice together has worked on all of the ants.

- Ant Farm