Chicken Safety - insecticide for grub worms

[animalspooker]

I have a bush out where my chickens free range. I think its under a grub worm attack. I have an insecticide to use on it but am concerned for the safety of my chickens. Is there any reason for me to be?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Interesting. What I call a grub worm is a fat white caterpillar that will eventually turn into a beetle. They feed on the roots underground. Are you sure those are grub worms and not something else? That might affect which insecticide you want to use. Are you talking about webworms? They are starting to show up here about now.

Will an insecticide cause a problem with your chickens? It might or might not. What insecticide are you talking about? What are the active ingredients? Some insecticides can cause problems, some won’t.

Without knowing what poison is in your insecticide no one can really answer your question. If you already have one, look on the label for active ingredients.

Once you know the poison you have you can do several things. You can do an online search and try to answer that question yourself. You can post it in this forum or some other place online and see if a stranger can help you out. If you are in the US, I’d suggest you call your county extension agent and chat with them. Even if they can’t answer your question they should be able to hook you up with an expert that can. Plus they might be able to help you positively identify that grub.

Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) is one that might really do the trick. It only works on caterpillars so you really need to know what that worm is, but it is organic and will not harm your chickens or you. It’s a disease that gives the caterpillars a tummy ache so bad they stop eating and starve to death. It only affects caterpillars and does not affect anything else. They don’t die immediately, it takes them a while to starve to death, but it is pretty effective and very safe.

Good luck. I think it is a great question but we really need some more information to give you a good answer.