Poultry Pest Patrol: Control Insects With Barnyard Fowl

By Mother Earth News Readers
Published on May 1, 2009
article image
By eurobanks

Chickens and other poultry are a wonderful addition to any backyard or homestead. They’re entertaining, easy-to-care-for pets, and they provide flavorful, nutritious eggs. Plus, the nitrogen-rich droppings they produce will help your garden flourish (after some time composting). But poultry have another advantage that’s often overlooked – they can provide outstanding tick and mosquito control and have voracious appetites for slugs, snails and other pests. They even eat mice and snakes sometimes!

We’ve been collecting readers’ Poultry Pest Patrol reports for several years, and your latest reports are presented below.


Chickens & Etc. to the Rescue

Farewell to Ticks and Flies

Last summer, I pulled at least a dozen ticks every night when I took my dog in the house. Then I got 200 chicks in two batches: the meat birds first, then the egg breeds. Within two weeks of letting the chicks out of the brooder, the ticks were gone, and we had few flies or any other type of bug.

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368