Using Chickens for insect control
Chickens are a natural form of pest control.
Chickens will eat almost any type of insect with a preference for crickets, grub worms, grasshoppers, larvae of ants, moths, termites, beetles, lizards, butterflies, lawn grubs, meal worms and even mice. However, not all insects are safe for chickens to eat and some insects can even harm or kill your birds.
Fire ants are dangerous for chickens.
Ants can make chickens lethargic and even cause death if enough are eaten. Generally older chickens (two months) or more will not eat ants. Most granule ant treatments are poison to chickens. DO NOT USE these in areas where the chickens have access to them.
How to keep flies away from your chickens
Plowing dirt or hoeing, and raking the area where chickens play and spot cleaning your coop daily is a good way to keep pesky, disease carrying flies from accumulating and laying eggs. Flies can get under a chickens skin and cause fly strike which can be deadly to your birds. Use fly traps where food and water is kept or in areas which could get damp or wet. Keep the coop and run clean and dry. Make sure there is no moldy food or rotten leftovers from treats that the birds did not eat laying around because this will attract gnats, flies, mice, rats, and predators.
Gather eggs daily to prevent insect infestations and predators.
If you are not trying to hatch them. The smell of eggs will attract insects, snakes, raccoons, possums and other predators to your hen house.
Deep cleaning the coop
Deep cleaning and disinfecting the hen house/chicken coop, nest boxes, roosts at least once a month and actually moving the coop and run every six weeks will significantly lessen parasite, insect and rodent infestations. Moving the coop is also a deterrent to night predators who may be visiting your coop at night and marking the territory for future feedings. Skunks, raccoons, foxes, mice, rats and other predators will mark their territory with urine and feces so they can easily find it when they are hungry. Mice and rats will burrow under coops and make nests and tunnels under the coop so moving it regularly is essential. If you are wondering how to tell if you have mice, moles or other critters tunneling under your chicken coop, you can flood the area and holes in the ground will appear, if you push a garden hose in the holes and flood them for a few minutes the mice and rats will come swimming out so be ready for that. Snakes like to crawl through the tunnels to eat the mice and moles but if they do not find any they will happily go into your coop, eat your chickens eggs, baby chicks, small breed chickens, and if the snake is big enough he can even eat a standard size chicken. Urine and feces left behind by these predators attract flies and other unsavory insects and the rats, moles, and mice usually carry lice and mites and sometimes diseases and bacteria which can make your chickens very sick.
Chickens will eat almost any type of insect with a preference for crickets, grub worms, grasshoppers, larvae of ants, moths, termites, beetles, lizards, butterflies, lawn grubs, meal worms and even mice. However, not all insects are safe for chickens to eat and some insects can even harm or kill your birds.
Fire ants are dangerous for chickens.
Ants can make chickens lethargic and even cause death if enough are eaten. Generally older chickens (two months) or more will not eat ants. Most granule ant treatments are poison to chickens. DO NOT USE these in areas where the chickens have access to them.
How to keep flies away from your chickens
Plowing dirt or hoeing, and raking the area where chickens play and spot cleaning your coop daily is a good way to keep pesky, disease carrying flies from accumulating and laying eggs. Flies can get under a chickens skin and cause fly strike which can be deadly to your birds. Use fly traps where food and water is kept or in areas which could get damp or wet. Keep the coop and run clean and dry. Make sure there is no moldy food or rotten leftovers from treats that the birds did not eat laying around because this will attract gnats, flies, mice, rats, and predators.
Gather eggs daily to prevent insect infestations and predators.
If you are not trying to hatch them. The smell of eggs will attract insects, snakes, raccoons, possums and other predators to your hen house.
Deep cleaning the coop
Deep cleaning and disinfecting the hen house/chicken coop, nest boxes, roosts at least once a month and actually moving the coop and run every six weeks will significantly lessen parasite, insect and rodent infestations. Moving the coop is also a deterrent to night predators who may be visiting your coop at night and marking the territory for future feedings. Skunks, raccoons, foxes, mice, rats and other predators will mark their territory with urine and feces so they can easily find it when they are hungry. Mice and rats will burrow under coops and make nests and tunnels under the coop so moving it regularly is essential. If you are wondering how to tell if you have mice, moles or other critters tunneling under your chicken coop, you can flood the area and holes in the ground will appear, if you push a garden hose in the holes and flood them for a few minutes the mice and rats will come swimming out so be ready for that. Snakes like to crawl through the tunnels to eat the mice and moles but if they do not find any they will happily go into your coop, eat your chickens eggs, baby chicks, small breed chickens, and if the snake is big enough he can even eat a standard size chicken. Urine and feces left behind by these predators attract flies and other unsavory insects and the rats, moles, and mice usually carry lice and mites and sometimes diseases and bacteria which can make your chickens very sick.
Hot Topics About Feeding Chickens |
References:
1. What Kind Of Bugs Do Chickens Eat?. (2018). YouTube. Retrieved 12 September 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5lk_WxGT0M
1. What Kind Of Bugs Do Chickens Eat?. (2018). YouTube. Retrieved 12 September 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5lk_WxGT0M