Will spraying the yard hurt my chickens?

[wonderpup]

We normally spray our yard for fleas a couple of times a year. We've used various sprays but they all say on the label that they are safe for people and pets once the grass is dry. They also kill other bugs but mostly we care about the fleas. I work from home as a groomer and trainer and occasionally board some of my client's dogs which is why it's such a big deal. With dog's coming to visit we need to keep the place as flea free as possible. We've had fantastic luck at it actually and don't have to treat our own dog's as often. We just got chickens though, they are about 6/7 weeks old now and just moved outside. It's getting warm here again and we are going to need to treat the yard again to keep from having an issue. What do I do? My chickens have free range time for a couple of house a day and we also have a duck who free ranges. Can I still spray and just keep them penned for a couple of days or no? I thought about switching to DE but I haven't had luck finding it locally. I need to ask the feed store if they can order it, I saw last time I was there they had tiny little bags of it for feeding to your dog as a wormer. Surely they CAN get it if I asked? Anyway, advice? What should I use and what works the best and is safe for the birds?

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Depends on what you are spraying.

 

[DianeS]

Well, chickens EAT the grass, which is obviously different from what animals and people do with grass. And whatever the chicken eats will come out in the eggs and meat.

What I'd do is look for a flea deterrent/killer that can be used on CROPS. If it's OK for the humans to eat the flea spray, then it would be OK for chickens to eat the flea spray too.

But that pretty much limits it down to DE. I can't think of any other bug deterrent/killer that can be eaten by humans. I'd definately see if your feed store can order it in bulk for you.

 

[wonderpup]

Ah, I didn't even think about the eggs. That makes sense. The whole point of having the chickens is to have better eggs so that would be no good. I'll check with the feed store on the DE, I hear from other people it works for fleas pretty well I've just never used it and maybe combine it with some of the more natural repellents. Garlic makes eggs taste funky right? So I used a garlic spray on the lawn that would be bad as well? I can't remember the brand name on the garlic stuff but I know it's out there and can even be homemade. It won't kill anything so far as I'm aware but bugs don't care for it, so I've read.

 

[azygous]

I learned a very tragic lesson about insecticides the hard way last summer. Most labels state that it's safe for pets after the sprayed area has dried. But no one talks about what happens when that area gets re-wetted.

I sprayed some cut worms inside a whiskey-barrel planter. Later, I planted some small tomato plants in the previously sprayed soil. I watered it. Next morning I found an otherwise healthy hen in the coop, unable to stand or hold up her head. She was dead within an hour.

I re-created what had happened. After watering the tomato planter, the water seeped through and out the bottom, puddling around the planter. The thirsty hen was out free-ranging and sipped from the puddle. There was no other source for this hen to have gotten poisoned, and it just broke my heart.

Carefully consider all consequences before using pesticides where your chickens will be active.

 

[BChipko]

I learned a very tragic lesson about insecticides the hard way last summer. Most labels state that it's safe for pets after the sprayed area has dried. But no one talks about what happens when that area gets re-wetted.

I sprayed some cut worms inside a whiskey-barrel planter. Later, I planted some small tomato plants in the previously sprayed soil. I watered it. Next morning I found an otherwise healthy hen in the coop, unable to stand or hold up her head. She was dead within an hour.

I re-created what had happened. After watering the tomato planter, the water seeped through and out the bottom, puddling around the planter. The thirsty hen was out free-ranging and sipped from the puddle. There was no other source for this hen to have gotten poisoned, and it just broke my heart.

Carefully consider all consequences before using pesticides where your chickens will be active.

If your hen ate the leaves of the tomato plant that might have been the cause, it's toxic to them.