Poultry Houses and Egg Farms
Use a combination of the following suggestions:
1. Remove food sources (trash, piled feed, broken eggs and dead chickens) and potential nesting sites (pieces of lumber, old equipment and manure piles).
2. Mow or use herbicides to remove weeds and grass from around poultry houses.
3. Treat indoor surfaces with a registered product if ants are nesting inside poultry houses.
Note: Although some products such as permethrin (Y-Tex® GardStar) are registered specifically for control of fire ants in poultry houses, other products such as dichlorvos (Vapona® Concentrate Insecticide), and lambda-cyhalothrin (Grenade® ER Premise Insecticide) are more generally registered for “crawling pests” including ants. Read the poultry sections of labels for precautions. Do not allow insecticides to come into contact with feed or water supplies.
4. If fire ants are foraging inside the poultry house from ant mounds located outdoors, spray a barrier around the outside of the building with products registered for that site (e.g., lambda-cyhalothrin).
5. On grounds surrounding the buildings, use the Two step Method. Conventionally formulated bait products such as abamectin (Clinch®), hydramethylnon (Amdro®) , or s-methoprene (Extinguish®) can be broadcast outside the poultry house, but not where chickens might come into contact with bait.
Broiler Houses and Turkey Operations
The program for egg farms can be adapted to broiler houses and turkey operations if the products used are registered for this site, but be sure to treat only the outsides of houses so birds will not come into contact with insecticides. (see Step 5 under Poultry Houses and Egg Farms).
Livestock Barns and Feedlots
1. The programs for poultry houses can be adapted to treat fire ants in livestock barns and holding pens if the products used are labeled for treating animal premises.
2. Around barns and other structures, use the Two Step Method if the treated areas are inaccessible to animals. Always use registered products. Conventionally formulated baits such as abamectin (Clinch®), hydramethylnon (Amdro®) or pyriproxyfen (Distance®) can be applied outside livestock pens according to directions. S-methoprene (Extinguish®) bait can be used in pens with no withdrawal or grazing restrictions.