Fire Ants in the Pig Pen! What do I do?

[DuckyLou]

I have two 35 pound gilts in a 16 X 16 pen. We have had a terrible time with fire ants this year in East Texas. I went out to feed the pigs and i noticed there are fire ants in there pen, kinda spread out everywhere. I'm headed to the feed store today, and I normally buy Demon ( which I can use in the pen with my chickens). Can I spray Demon in the pen with the pigs or does anyone know of something better to use? I sure don't want the ants to eat my bacon before I do!!!

 

[PendergrassRanch]

Put some chickens in there!

Would DE work?

 

[greybeard]

I have two 35 pound gilts in a 16 X 16 pen. We have had a terrible time with fire ants this year in East Texas. I went out to feed the pigs and i noticed there are fire ants in there pen, kinda spread out everywhere. I'm headed to the feed store today, and I normally buy Demon ( which I can use in the pen with my chickens). Can I spray Demon in the pen with the pigs or does anyone know of something better to use? I sure don't want the ants to eat my bacon before I do!!!

Rent an anteater?
Or, if you can find some, plant some wwBDahl grass outside the pigpen. I've been told by several people that the infamous odor BDahl puts out keeps fire ants away. I have some WWBDahl, but haven't looked to see if the fire ant population has decreased on that area or not.

(odor is subjective in this case--the general opinion is that it stinks to high heaven)

 

[DuckyLou]

I have chickens, but I've never seen them eat fire ants! Do they?? And the grass sounds interesting , but unless it can grow in about a day the ants will enjoy my pork before I do! . I asked the feed store man if I could spray the Demon in there and he said yes, so I bought some and put the pigs in a different temporary area until it dries really good. It also said on the package that it was for livestock/poultry housing, so I hope it is ok.....

 

[Cornish Heritage]

Never been around fire ants so have no clue what to tell you but I don't see why chickens wouldn't eat them as they eat everything else. Hope you get the problem resolved. OUCH!

Liz

 

[bigmike]

Ducky, get you some of the cheapest nastiest coffee that you can find.Use it dry straight out of the bag/can.Sprinkle it on and around the ant bed...They will relocate rather quickly.It won't kill them but they will move to somewhere else..I laughed when someone told me this but it really works.We put it on them whenever they show up in our yard...And you don't have to worry about it harming your livestock................Mike