I am overrun with black ants. They are taking over the garden, chicken run, and coming in my house. I have tried DE without much success and my chickens appear to not want to eat the ants. What can I use to stop the ants in there tracks that won't hurt my chickens?
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Thanks for the suggestions. I will give it a try.
Last year we were inundated with ants. This year is a little better for us, but as you've experienced, DE is only a little effective. Last year even Amdro didn't impact them.
This year we're doing our best to make the environment less than great for them. They hang around water, so I move the chickens water regularly so the ground dries out within a day. We're addressing aphids faster, whereas last year we allowed them to get out of hand. I don't allow any crumbles to sit on the ground or under things (the food only goes where the birds will eat it fully).
I've been spraying with worm compost tea and they seem to hate that. It seems to have a more lasting effect than cayenne, garlic, or cinnamon.
For the sugar ants, you can make your own bait by mixing syrup (sugar water, honey, whaterver) with boric acid.
So it seems it takes a lot of little actions rather than one magic solution. Good luck! If you do find a magic answer, please share!
I have found the black biting ants hide under ground. I use the Amdro ant traps and dig a little with the end of the trap and 1000's of ants appear then I put the trap down. I thought my ants were dead but realized they moved a foot, so I moved the traps. A few days later, I checked the original spot, there were tons of baby ants, the adult ants were gone. So what I concluded from this is you have to kill the ant eggs too. I don't know what will work on the ant eggs, maybe boiling water.
My sugar ants like "powdered sugar" so I mix that with DE, cornmeal and grits. I will try boric acid and powdered sugar. I don't worry too much about the brown ants and they are supposed to be good.
Grace is truly is a balance. All ants are 'good' in the sense they are part of nature's carrion clean up crew (like dead birds), but having biting critters in areas where you, children, pets and livestock are is not good. The ant bait kills the queen and adults, but if there are any hacklings in the mean time, you may have to apply a second dose. We try for getting them to move away from our normal paths, not particularly trying for total eradication, as that would not be possible or particularly good from nature's balance. The sugar ants are more of a pest when they get themselves inside the home.
Hi April,
Ants. All I can say is ARRRRR!!!! Like you I struggle every year with them. They're the pesky tiny little ones that pack a mean and itchy bite. Since I'm in the yard so much I always have some nice welts on my ankles. I'm itching one right now as I type. :-)
Like you, I've tried DE with no success. Like Catherine I've had to resort to AMDRO. This is a brand name of a very good product. Big box stores and all nursery's have it. Expensive but takes care of the problem in one day. Find out where the next is and sprinkle a tablespoon sized mound. Keep the chickens away from that area until the ants are dead.
I hope this helps!
April, if you are having that bad a problem, you may have to resort to the granular ant bait. Find the hive opening and pour some on or around it. A bad ant problem will harm your chickens besides all the other issues (one year when I had my girls they were hopping around - the ants were just biting them all over). If your chickens are around where the ants are - in the run, or free ranging them - then put a box or pot over the hive opening when you put the bait down. Some people think the chickens won't eat the bait but I would err on the side of caution. The ants are VERY active now because they are doing their winter storage and so can be very aggressive.