Hi.

 

does anyone know of a Safeway to get rid of ants in the aviary?

 

Thanks.

I have very vague recollections of my dad sprinkling lime (the kind of stuff you get from a nursery to turn into your soil) around the perimeter of his shed then hosing it so it soaks down... but that wouldn't neccesarily fix the problem if they are digging and coming up between pavers.

I would think AntRid would be good. It is in powdered form. You lay it down on the patht he ants walk on and they walk it back to theri nest and the nest is destroyed.

I would think AntRid would be good. It is in powdered form. You lay it down on the patht he ants walk on and they walk it back to theri nest and the nest is destroyed.

 

Thanks Dave, Is it safe to put inside the avairy?

Their is a good product used for swimming pool filtering processes you can use. It is a powder but I am not sure of the name by which they sell it under. I only know what it consists of. It is Diatomaceous Earth or sometimes referred to a Celite and is great for killing insects as they have an exoskeleton. It will not harm the birds. However it is indiscriminate and will kill beneficial insects.

Thankyou Ripbudgies I will check it out.

Thanks Dave, Is it safe to put inside the avairy?

NO

I have ants too in the aviary first ever aggggrrhhh, One of my best hen died the other day and when I found her she was covered in ants, they were having a great traet rotten things. She was fine the night before and the next morning dead on the floor and covered in ants.

 

They are in the feed bowls and when I put the veges out they love that too poor birds miss out.

I have ants too in the aviary first ever aggggrrhhh, One of my best hen died the other day and when I found her she was covered in ants, they were having a great traet rotten things. She was fine the night before and the next morning dead on the floor and covered in ants.

 

They are in the feed bowls and when I put the veges out they love that too poor birds miss out.

 

Yes they come from the smallest holes and steal all the birds food and seed. Its annoying, I remember when I had quails they used to eat the ants all day long.

I lost a number of newly hatched chicks last year from ants... It's a hard battle to fight... I ended up concreteing my avairy, which helped... but my solutions were:

 

* Used surface spray- for insects etc... the one you spray on and it's meant to stay active??? I sprayed it around the outside of the aviary. Make sure it's not a windy day, don't want any drift into in.

 

* Used ant sand/dust also around the aviary/ where ants were comming from.

 

* Tried to keep it as clean as possible.

 

* Polenta... think thats how you spell it. Buy it from the supermarket. The ants eat it, then drink water and swell up and ka-boom!!!. I used it in the aviary, not in heaps, but spread it out into all the cracks etc...

 

You'll probably need to try a number of things... Good luck!

Thankyou all for the help.

 

The ants are not in the breeding room so thankfully I will not lose any chicks. The breeding room is easier to control because I can use baits and other things because the birds are all locked in cages anyway. The aviary is harder to control, I will look into some of the suggested things and keep you updated.

Forgot to add I also used those plastic baits in my breeding room... with the sticky stuff in them... they seemed to help too.

In the aviary you can spray bird mite spray around the edges where the ants enter, it can help to deter them, also if you place the food nd water bowls empty upside down on the floor and spray the bottom edge of them(so the spray doesn't go inside them) and then flip them right way up and fill it may help to deter ants from the actual bowls as well.