At times I have had to put some traps out for the smaller roaches but this year I have the giant palmetto bugs. They would not even fit in a roach motel. They showed up after the hurricane flooding we had in July and are everywhere.
I have so many critters that I hate to use chemicals in my barn. Has anyone had any success with non-chemical eradication? My chickens are no help as they are only out during the day and the bugs only out during the night.
Well, you can always smack them. But IME, they’ll just yell “Ow” and hit you back. :lol:
When I was in college, I was the second shift desk clerk at a resort at Myrtle Beach. You should’ve heard those Yankee ladies the first time they saw a palmetto bug! I used to tell them it was our state insect and a protected species. Since we have the palmetto tree and crescent moon motif emblazoned on everything around here, they would believe me. And oddly enough, this complete fabrication seemed to make giant flying roaches seem less awful to them. Go figure. 
Anyway, no idea what to do about them, other than wait for winter. And be glad they don’t bite. I didn’t realize y’all had hurricane flooding this year.
Your chickens are only out at night?
What about diatomaceous earth? I have no first hand experience, but it’s supposed to work against roaches as well as other insects. If you get food grade DE, it’s even safe for the chickens to eat and supposed to be effective against internal parasites. Again, I have no first hand experience, but I read up on it a number of years ago when someone on a discussion forum was singing its praises and I had never heard of it.
Pterodactyl.
Alternatively, work in a very small round pen and you might could saddle those puppies.
[QUOTE=pAin’t_Misbehavin’;7726956]
Your chickens are only out at night?[/QUOTE]
Only out during the day…that glass of red wine must have really gone to my head. But honestly, those bugs are so outrageously big my chickens might run from them.
We had hurricane Arthur hit us on June 30 as a cat II but nothing major. We did however, have some coastal flooding on the Outer Banks of NC as a result. I sure am hoping that is the one and only of the season!
rats…
in all seriousness, I had a pet rat when I lived alone in a studio (read: SMALL!!!) apartment in SC. I lived on the slum side of the city and roaches were everywhere; you open up a mailbox and they’d go scurrying. I ended up feeding a few to the rat, and then started letting her roam around the room… they stopped coming…
I think your best bet is better chickens though!!
Awwwe, I have always wanted a pet rat! No more animals, no more animals…
With palmetto bugs you’ve got two choices for eradication: chemical or mechanical (i.e., hitting with a shoe, a 2x4, a hammer, etc.).
Does anybody make a “palmetto bug hotel?” (Genuine question, here.)
G.
Guil-I think a roach motel for a Palmetto Bug would be the size of a dog house, and the bug would probably move in, and demand room service with choice of menus.
The sticky traps for mice and rats work pretty well actually!
How about those ultrasonic pest things? Maybe even the ones for mice.
Exterminators do have chemicals that won’t hurt dogs and cats. Not sure about chickens. How about toads and frogs? They should eat them.
We have those things all over in Haiti. You can move the animals out and blast with roach spray, esp. in crevices and under boards, and then leave them excluded for a few hours until the volatile chemicals (roughy = smell) is gone.
Ruthless avoidance of having anything edible left out helps in kitchens, but it’s hard in a barn. It doesn’t take much grain dust stuck in crevices between boards for those suckers to feel at home.
I hate them also.
If you are referring to the giant roaches (like 2 inches long) they have super sized sticky traps. We used those when I lived in Hawaii. 1 of several reasons I moved!
There are some jumbo sized roach motels that have 2 things of bait in them that work pretty well, although they may move them around a bit (so be careful if you have pets and suddenly the motel you put under the stove is now out in your kitchen). I’ve had success with those because they do take the bait back to the nests. Spraying chemicals (apart from a full-on fumigation) seems to just make them want to fly around more :eek:
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