How to get rid of spiders, bugs, insects in the chicken coop?

[Lazy Farmer]

It didn't occur to me that the bugs could be attracting the spiders,

RE: How to get rid of spiders, bugs, insects in the chicken coop?

The title is an oxymoron. Only meaning the answer is in the question.
Spiders only place webs in strategic locations. Locations where other insects frequent.
Obviously out of all the invaders, the spiders are the most troublesome. But by only removing the spiders, you will be allowing the rest of the critters to manifest.
Summer is upon us and living here in Florida (insect capital of North America, I feel your pain. Lots of members here have wonderful suggestions on insect control so I will only tell you- hang in there! Winter is around the corner. Take it from me, the gal who has 5 fly swatters hanging in her chicken houses!
Take care and best regards.

 

[CJreef]

Your chickens are the best bug control

 

[lcwmt]

Spiders are our friends. They are eating the bugs that are not our friends <G>.
However, you are frightened by them... lots of people are. Might I suggest you equip yourself when you go in the coop? Wear gloves (we should anyway), long sleeves and a hat. Yup, it's hotter that way but those items could be on a peg and donned when needed. They will give you a strong sense of security and might get you through until the spiders leave of their own accord.
Sprays are generally nasty IMO. You've gotten good info on this thread about what to use and how.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

When our birds were still young we opened the coop one day to discover what could only be described as a halloween decoration. We had to kill it because the birds were too small to eat it. Now they pretty much take care of all the bugs on the inside. I just use a broom every now again on the outside. I suggest making sure your birds can reach all the knooks and cranies of your coop to prevent the spiders and insects.

 

[Chickassan]

Wolf spider is eating your earwigs. They don't build webs ever they ambush. They aren't venomous and would only bite you if you somehow pressed on it. They are capable of eating small mice. Wolf spider will also NEVER fill your coop with baby spiders, she carries them on her back. She's big yes, but she's actually an asset to you and no harm to you or your chickens. Natural pest control, go to rainbowmealworms.com and buy a few house geckos give them a home in your coop. Your chickens can't catch them to eat them just put them in while your girls are out and they'll be none the wiser.

 

[bruceha2000]

I suspect the spiders are there because there are lots of bugs for them to eat. They are actually probably doing you a favor.

Most likely. No prey, no sense in setting up the hunting blind.

That could work, they free range all day and after they lay any eggs they don't come back until night. And that's mostly where they are is in the top of the coop which is weird because I've only seen bugs around the bottom of the coop.
Thanks!

No way I would be flooding my chickens' areas with pesticide spray. The chickens will not say "hey look, a dead bug, bet it was poisoned, I won't eat it".

With regard to earwigs and the spiders eating them. If your chickens aren't eating the earwigs, you have some seriously weird chickens!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Lets face it. We have outdoor wooden structures with large openings and lots of things bugs love like food, manure, pine shavings and other bugs.
And we don't want to poison the birds.
That equals lots of creepy crawlies of all types throughout the coop. Chickens may eat lots of the things if they catch them moving when it is light out but I can't get over all the roaches that run amok in the coop after dark.
If you can't handle the bugs in some way or another. Don't keep chickens.
On the plus side, if you have a great variety of invertebrates, it may mean you have a more pristine environment. If there are no spiders/insects and other bugs, there is something wrong, AKA sterile environment.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

That equals lots of creepy crawlies of all types throughout the coop. Chickens may eat lots of the things if they catch them moving when it is light out but I can't get over all the roaches that run amok in the coop after dark.

 

[llombardo]

One of my girls has actually been spending time in the coop scratching around. I will assume it's for bugs because I never see any in there. Now I did take a hose to a web between the coop and duck house, but that was outside.

 

[Jemma Rider]

View attachment 1462875 View attachment 1462873

RE: How to get rid of spiders, bugs, insects in the chicken coop?

The title is an oxymoron. Only meaning the answer is in the question.
Spiders only place webs in strategic locations. Locations where other insects frequent.
Obviously out of all the invaders, the spiders are the most troublesome. But by only removing the spiders, you will be allowing the rest of the critters to manifest.
Summer is upon us and living here in Florida (insect capital of North America, I feel your pain. Lots of members here have wonderful suggestions on insect control so I will only tell you- hang in there! Winter is around the corner. Take it from me, the gal who has 5 fly swatters hanging in her chicken houses!
Take care and best regards.

I wish there was some sort of spider trap so i could just move the large ones, I'd rather deal with insects then spiders.
And i apologize for the title i was in a tizzy after i saw that spider. I need to get rid of them a spider (i'm not sure what kind) jumped on my arm earlier, i screamed so loud my Rosie screamed with me, calling my rooster to the coop, which was just obnoxious because the chickens get under my feet while I'm working.

Spiders are our friends. They are eating the bugs that are not our friends <G>.
However, you are frightened by them... lots of people are. Might I suggest you equip yourself when you go in the coop? Wear gloves (we should anyway), long sleeves and a hat. Yup, it's hotter that way but those items could be on a peg and donned when needed. They will give you a strong sense of security and might get you through until the spiders leave of their own accord.
Sprays are generally nasty IMO. You've gotten good info on this thread about what to use and how.

I decided not to use sprays, i did a bit more research of course and didn't want to take the chance, I'm going to grow some herbs to hopefully repel them, i practically wear a hazmat suit to the coop at this point, it's miserable and my Rosie is terrified of me. I wish i could leave the spiders i hate killing anything even them I'm wondering if i could somehow trap the big one, anything that's survived long enough to get that large deserves to live for a long time. I just can't function with them around.