Chicks and Ticks

Can chickens help control the tick population in your backyard? 

Yes, they can! Chickens are omnivores and healthy, happy chickens spend their days foraging for bugs. A flock of chickens allowed to free-range can significantly reduce the number of ticks and other insects in your yard.

Backyard Chickens have an Eye for Ticks!

Chickens are quick to eat up anything that moves or quivers along the ground. This includes adult ticks, flea eggs, and mosquito larvae. Chickens can eat about 80 ticks in under an hour! Chickens are the perfect natural predictor for ticks. They can get rid of up to 331 ticks per season. The more your chickens are allowed to roam around the more efficient they will be in making sure your yard stays pest-free. 

Tips on How-To Control Your Tick Population With Chickens

• Free-range works best! To get your chickens to eat the maximum amount of ticks, they need to be able to free-range or as close as you can get. Being able to rearrange your fencing is key. Electric netting is an affordable option that is easy to move around and re-configure to your exact needs.
• Place your coop in a central location between these sections so that rotating chickens is as effortless as it can be.
• Get the right breed! Even though all chickens love creepy crawling things, not all of them are as efficient when it comes to killing ticks. The Ameraucana and the Brown Leghorn are great breeds when it comes to attacking and killing ticks. 

Keeping your yard tick-free could be as simple as letting your chickens eat! Implementing free-range however you can, placing your coop in a central location, and getting the right breed of chickens are steps you can take to have a safer pest-free yard!