How to handle pest around chicken coop?

[Phantom_k9]

I am not sure where to post this, so I am putting this down as a potential health issue for my flock...

Here in Texas, spring and summer brings a lot of bugs and pest that we have to deal with. One of the more prominent pest we have is Wasp, paper Wasp (and Dirt Dobbers, Yellow Jackets, Hornets, etc). These creatures tend to spring up a nest on almost any and every eve, overhang, or hidden area, and usually need to be dealt with. If we didn't have them in as great of numbers as we do here they wouldn't be an issue, but trust me they are. With this, outside of hiring a pest control service to handle nest ranging from being the size of a nickel to that of a baseball glove, we tend to spray the nest with a poison spray at night. This usually leaves several dead Wasp on the ground, and a few others within fifty yards of the nest.
My issue is concerning how curious our chickens can be. I have no doubt that they will try to avoid getting stung by a large Red Wasp, but what about one that is dead? Our chickens will eat just about any bug that moves (or not). I stepped on a cockroach one day and before I could make sure it was dead our white-crested Polish hen got rid of the bugger. We don't use any pesticide (aside from Wasp Spray, which is local to the nest), however our neighbors do, but we don't let our flock wonder too far out of our yard. With that, our flock is free-ranged.
Anyways, my concern is that when we finish our new chicken coop, and when Wasp inevitably move in, will our chickens attempt to consume dead Wasp that are probably soaked in poison? We have discussed the practice of checking every eve of the coop every day for any nest stems or new nest in order to knock them down before they are built, but I know that we will miss a spot (or two) and will have to deal with one of these nest. Personally, I do not want my chickens eating dead Wasp, let alone Wasp that have been poisoned. We love our flock (and our eggs), and don't want to accidentally poison them.
What can I do to remove the nest and Wasp population while keeping the safety of our flock in mind? We can't simply leave the Wasp alone, they can get aggressive and their numbers can get close to being an infestation if left unchecked. Any tips / advice?

 

[Eggcessive]

One of the safer insecticides for a chicken coop is permethrin 10, which you can get in a concentrate form at Tractor Supply and other feed stores. It mixes with water in a spray bottle, and in a gallon garder sprayer. The inside label has mixing instructions for coops or even for the chickens. It is safe for chickens, but not if you raise bees. Elector PSP is another good product that can be ordered online, and is mixed with water. Both chemicals are safe for chickens, and good against most insects, including mites, and lice.

 

[coach723]

I've got both paper wasps and mud daubers. I don't like using pesticides either. For the paper wasps I knock them down after dark or when it's cold, and the mud daubers I scrape off with a putty knife and then squish with my shoe. If you use a clear plastic bag and put it over the paper wasp nest (a helper is needed) and then scrape the stem it will fall into the bag and then you close it up immediately. Clear bag means you can see what you are doing. Obviously the smaller they are when you do this the better. I had one get fairly big this summer, they were in a spot that they weren't too bothersome, so I waited till the first cold snap to get them down. They are much less active in the cold.

 

[RJH]

I am not sure where to post this, so I am putting this down as a potential health issue for my flock...

Here in Texas, spring and summer brings a lot of bugs and pest that we have to deal with. One of the more prominent pest we have is Wasp, paper Wasp (and Dirt Dobbers, Yellow Jackets, Hornets, etc). These creatures tend to spring up a nest on almost any and every eve, overhang, or hidden area, and usually need to be dealt with. If we didn't have them in as great of numbers as we do here they wouldn't be an issue, but trust me they are. With this, outside of hiring a pest control service to handle nest ranging from being the size of a nickel to that of a baseball glove, we tend to spray the nest with a poison spray at night. This usually leaves several dead Wasp on the ground, and a few others within fifty yards of the nest.
My issue is concerning how curious our chickens can be. I have no doubt that they will try to avoid getting stung by a large Red Wasp, but what about one that is dead? Our chickens will eat just about any bug that moves (or not). I stepped on a cockroach one day and before I could make sure it was dead our white-crested Polish hen got rid of the bugger. We don't use any pesticide (aside from Wasp Spray, which is local to the nest), however our neighbors do, but we don't let our flock wonder too far out of our yard. With that, our flock is free-ranged.
Anyways, my concern is that when we finish our new chicken coop, and when Wasp inevitably move in, will our chickens attempt to consume dead Wasp that are probably soaked in poison? We have discussed the practice of checking every eve of the coop every day for any nest stems or new nest in order to knock them down before they are built, but I know that we will miss a spot (or two) and will have to deal with one of these nest. Personally, I do not want my chickens eating dead Wasp, let alone Wasp that have been poisoned. We love our flock (and our eggs), and don't want to accidentally poison them.
What can I do to remove the nest and Wasp population while keeping the safety of our flock in mind? We can't simply leave the Wasp alone, they can get aggressive and their numbers can get close to being an infestation if left unchecked. Any tips / advice?

From West Texas, I can comment on 3 of these pests. A natural predator of other wasps and yellow jackets are Paper Wasps (their nest look like and feel gray paper). Don't kill them if possible. I've never heard of anyone being stung by them...unlike red wasps and yellow jackets! Both eaten by the paper wasps. Dirt Dobber nests easily wash away with the water hose and DD's also don't sting.

There are very efficient, all natural, yellow jacket traps available that basically use water. You can make yours from 2 liter bottles with variables of sugar, apple juice, Dawn dish soap, banana peel &/or bacon and plus, to protect bee, apple cider vinegar (it wards them off. I'm a beekeeper)

and from my fave bee & chicken advisor, Frederick Dunn.

Hope that helps!
Ronda Jane

 

[21hens-incharge]

I can attest to having been stung repeatedly by paper wasps. They are very very aggressive. Yes I saw the nest....AFTER I got stung on the leg 5-6 times in only a few seconds.

 

[Phantom_k9]

We ended up painting the roof/celling of our coop "haint blue" which is rumored to keep spiders and wasps away, because they think the roof is just the open sky and as such they don't try to build a nest. Believe it or not, I think it works! We have had around 5 wasp nest on the coop, 4 of which were built before we painted the coop, and 1 that was build on a scuffed part of the wood where the paint had been pealed. In fact, wasp have only landed on parts of the coop that aren't blue, and the ones that do don't move, as if petrified and confused. Jury is still out about if it works on spiders, but it definitely works on wasp! Generally speaking, we haven't had to spray more than once around the coop, and when we spray other nest they tend to be in areas that the chickens don't go, so no worries.
I will try some of those traps, I can't stand wasps/hornets/flying stinking bugs (other than bees, bees are ok). Curious if they work for dirt dobbers? I know they are harmless, but we have a virtual infestation of them and great black wasp in our barn, soo...
Regardless, with winter around the corner they shouldn't be an issue, but I'll definatly give these traps a try when the devils start to make an appearance.

 

[cmom]

I use the permethrin too. You can also buy it in a premixed spray bottle. There is no egg withdrawal period.

 

[Al Gerhart]

The best way to kill wasps and any pupa in the nests is a dousing with gasoline. They drop instantly and are dead in a few seconds. Yellow jackets love the smell of lacquer thinner too, it makes them drunk as a skunk. When I spray cabinets in the spray booth during the summer time here they come, not aggressive at all, you can just knock them off the wall with a stick and stomp them.

I doubt that a hen would eat a gas soaked wasp but I would do it after they go to roost, the gas will have evaporated by morning.

 

[cmom]

My sister-in-law said she hangs up paper bags in her barn and since doing this hasn't had any more issues with wasps. Never tried it myself.

 

[Jenwisp]

Are eating wasps bad? I watched my hens eat a couple and they seemed fine.

I have small ground wasps in several places in the yard. I noticed after I started letting the chickens out to forage, they moved out.