Thousands of ants!!! Help!

[joanm]

Thank you for all the suggestions! I’m definitely going to try borax and salt. Speckledhen, I have orange oil, but like you stated I DON’T want attract them if it doesn’t kill them! All of my neighbors have ant problems and they are not fire ants, they are just tiny annoying ants that crawl everywhere and they don’t bite like fire ants. My yard and trees are infested with them and unfortunately my chickens will not eat them!

 

[joanm]

FYI - good to know it won't harm pets. I'm going to try it!

TERRO

Liquid Ant Bait is a sweet food based product similar to pancake syrup combined with Borax. Borax is a mineral that is mined in the desert
in California and is a common active ingredient that is used in soap products such as 20 Mule Team Borax.
The product kills ants but will not harm people or pets. If you spill some on your skin there will be no reaction at all. Simply wash with warm water.
Pets occasionally find the Terro and eat it. Our advice when this happens is to do nothing at all. The product is not toxic enough to cause a problem
and the pet will be just fine.

 

[wegotchickens]

We have the same little bitty ants, but my girls ate them when they were swarming earlier this year. As the ants with wings appeared the girls gobbled them up. After they muched a half dozen hills of them in one evening I looked around and realized how many more bugs were in the air! I'm grateful the girls ate as many as they did, but they don't eat them now.
I think they're worse for us this year because its been so dry.

 

[Gracefulspice]

We always use boiling water. Pour it directly onto the anthill. Kills them all. My chickens don't always eat the ants either.

You have to find out where exactally the ants are coming from tho.

 

[Alleyoops25]

Never thought of the hot water trick. What happens if the ant hill goes down a few feet, wont all that dirt insulate and cool befor it gets down that far?

 

[Southern28Chick]

Quote:
Be careful with salt around your chickens. Chickens can't have salt either.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Careful with "quick kill" approaches. With the Argentine ants this just stresses the colony and makes it split into 4-5 new colonies which grow bigger than the first. I've read that the slow kill techniques are the best.

 

[joanm]

Nifty-Chicken,

I did read about the "quick kill" approach. I think that's why my yard is so infested, everytime I see a trail of ants I run and get the spray and go nuts. I'm going to try the borax and not the salt!

 

[RoyalHillsLLC]

I would try something like this that is designed to kill ants, and just put it something that chickens can't reach, like a box or jar. Ants will find it.

http://www.controlsolutionsinc.com/product.asp?id=59

Local feed stores are the best source for products like this. You won't find them in big boxes usually.

 

[rufus]

I recommend Chinese chalk. We found it at one of the Korean stores in the barrio. The sign said "Kills Ants," so the kids wanted to try it. I was pretty sure it was bogus, but what did we have to lose?

My wife is one of those crazy old ladies that thinks it is her mission on earth to save and feed all of the alley cats that show up at our house. Anyway, she puts the food out on the patio, and the black ants make a bee line for it.

We bought a couple of sticks of this Chinese chalk just to give it a try. The label said "Follow instruction carefully," but that was the only English on the thing. Everything else was in Chinese.

When we got home, I put out the cat food and then I drew a large circle around it with the chalk. Sure enough, within a matter of minutes, the black ants appeared. They crossed the circle of death and died. When I saw that, I went and washed my hands very carefully. I am not sure what is in that chalk, but it sure works.

Now when I use it, I put my hand into a plastic bag and use it like a glove. Then I throw the bag away when done with it.

Rufus