Diatomaceous Earth and Ants

[TheChickenCameFirst]

I have a quick question...

I know many of you use diatomaceous earth to keep down pests such as mites and moisture in your coops. The 'biggest' little pest problem we have in our coop is ants. They come after the chicken poop and sometimes the feed and water. Would DE keep them under control? I'm hoping so, because we have always had a big ant problem even before we got the chickens, and they LOVE the coop a bit more than I'd like. Would spreading DE in the yard help too?

Thanks.

 

[Nicole01]

It works for us. We were bombarded with sugar ants. Just make sure the DE stays dry. I have ZERO bugs inside the coop. The DE took care of the sugar ants in the run too.

 

[southerndesert]

It works for us, but we have a very dry climate. Once wet it is useless to deter or kill insects so if it stays dry it should work for you.

 

[TheChickenCameFirst]

I would love to be rid of some of these ants! But, we do live in a "wetter" climate. What I can do is plan to spread it when I know there is going to be a dry spell. (Right now would be perfect... we are having a heat wave)

Thanks for the advice! I didn't know that when it gets wet it becomes useless.

 

[m.r.heavenlyhens]

I use the stuff all the time. It works great on fire ant hills. I also sprinkle it on the back of my counters to keep bugs at bay. I sprinkle it in the hen house floor and it seems to keep bugs away. I have heard that it is not good for worms in the soil, but I do not know about that. I feed it with my layer feed at 5% and I have yet to have a hen with worms or mites. I have also read that when the hens eat it and pass it out the other end that flies won't lay eggs in the feces.

 

[aggie9296]

it may cut down on some ants, but it has NO EFFECT on fire ants. Doesn't kill them, deter them, scare them or make them move their mound. it probably makes a good sun block for them.

if anyone says it works on their fire ants, they are mistaken or they have sissy ants.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

if anyone says it works on their fire ants, they are mistaken or they have sissy ants.

I'd have to agree.

Often people will put something on a Fire Ant mound, and then check in a couple of days and see no ants.

What they don't realize is the ants are sensitive to any disturbance, and simply stop using that mound and build a new one.

The only way to reliably eliminate Fire Ants is to use a bait that they take back to the Queen​

 

[CapricornFarm]

I used to live in Florida, and those fire ants are nasty. You could poison them all day, and the best you could hope for is for them to move their nest a few feet.

 

[aggie9296]

I just try to peeve them off enough that they go to the neighbors yards!

 

[TheChickenCameFirst]

m.r.heavenlyhens :

I use the stuff all the time. It works great on fire ant hills. I also sprinkle it on the back of my counters to keep bugs at bay. I sprinkle it in the hen house floor and it seems to keep bugs away. I have heard that it is not good for worms in the soil, but I do not know about that. I feed it with my layer feed at 5% and I have yet to have a hen with worms or mites. I have also read that when the hens eat it and pass it out the other end that flies won't lay eggs in the feces.

That's great that the flies won't lay eggs in the feces if the hens have eaten DE. Good to know!

Quote:
I'd have to agree.

Often people will put something on a Fire Ant mound, and then check in a couple of days and see no ants.

What they don't realize is the ants are sensitive to any disturbance, and simply stop using that mound and build a new one.

The only way to reliably eliminate Fire Ants is to use a bait that they take back to the Queen

Thankfully, we don't have any fire ants to deal with. Just good ole sugar ants and some carpenter ants.​