How to Use Chickens for Tick Control
Tick control. This time of of year, everyone is looking for ways to control ticks in the yard, and for good reason.
Ticks can spread severe, life-threatening disease. According to the CDC, tick borne disease is increasing in the United States. In the past two decades, seven new tick borne germs that can cause illness have been identified. And, the number is expected to grow as deer and rodent populations, both major carriers of ticks, increase.
One tick control option is to use a chemical treatment for your yard. However, many people loathe the idea of using dangerous and environmentally harmful chemicals on their property. So, another option is to use natural tick control methods. And, a flock of chickens fits the bill perfectly.
Our Journey Towards Natural Tick Control
In 2012, I was bitten by a lone star tick while we were traveling in South Texas and developed alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), an allergy to mammalian meat and its by-products, like dairy and gelatin. Fortunately, the allergy goes away for many people within 18 to 24 months, and it did for me. I went years without any problems, or any further tick bites.
However, when we purchased our homestead in 2020 I was bitten by several lone star ticks, and my AGS came back with a vengeance. The ticks in Tennessee were the worst I’d ever seen, anywhere. The boys would go down to the creek and come back crawling with dozens of ticks. I couldn’t even kneel in the grass to work on my flower beds without getting ticks on my arms and legs.
I wanted to save electricity by line drying our clothes, but I couldn’t even do that. Every time I brought the clothes in there would be microscopic ticks that blew in on the wind on our shorts and shirts. They were just everywhere.
Controlling the ticks with chemicals wasn’t even on the table as an option. So, I decided to try chickens.
Do Chickens Eat Ticks?
Yes, chickens eat ticks. And, they are an excellent way to control ticks in your yard.
So, how many ticks do chickens eat?
A 1991 study published in the National Library of Medicine looked at the number of ticks inside a chicken’s gizzard after foraging for one hour among a flock of tick-infested cattle. On average, each chicken in the flock ate 81 ticks during that hour. The total range was 3 to 331 ticks per chicken.
Think about how many ticks a flock of 10 chickens would eat every day. Those are ticks that are not around to bite you and, more importantly, not around to lay eggs and produce more ticks.
In addition to eating all those ticks, a flock of chickens will provide you with many other benefits: daily eggs, manure for your garden, and natural pest control for other insects.
Using Guineas to Eat Ticks
Now the next question: do guinea hens eat ticks?
Yes. Guineas are excellent foragers, and some say that they’re better at chickens for controlling ticks because their eyesight is so sharp. Guineas spend all day foraging, unlike some chicken breeds that can be on the lazy side, so they can potentially consume an enormous amount of ticks.
The downside to using guinea hens to eat ticks is the noise. Guineas are very, very loud. Most people with close neighbors can’t get guineas because of the noise. Heck, we live on 10 acres and even with all that space I don’t want to get guineas because of the noise and the disruption it would cause my neighbors.
Another downside to guinea fowl is that they don’t respect property lines. At all. Guineas will free range far and wide, which could seriously damage your relationship with neighbors. For most people, it’s better to use chickens to eat ticks.
Best Chickens for Tick Control
There are many different chicken breeds out there. So what are the best chickens for tick control?
Well, you want to choose chicken breeds that are known to be good foragers. The best foragers will spend most of the day out in the yard or pasture, eating bugs (like ticks), grass, and seed. Some of the best foraging chicken breeds are:
- Ameraucana
- Golden Comet
- Brown Leghorn
- Speckled Sussex
- Rhode Island Red
- Hamburg
- Ancona
- Egyptian Fayoumi
- Old English Game
- Jersey Giants
When it comes to chickens that eat ticks, you want to stay away from breeds that are known to be a bit lazy. For example, our Lavender Orpingtons are terrible foragers. They’re like the lazy teenagers that want to spend all day inside playing video games and eating pizza instead of getting a job.
I shoo our Orpingtons out of the coop and the barn daily to go out and forage because if I didn’t, they’d spend all day hanging out near the food dish and gossiping. Don’t get me wrong, I love this breed because they’re sweet and docile. They’re just not great foragers.
If you’re looking to build a flock of chickens to eat ticks, you might want to avoid these breeds simply because they’re not great foragers:
- Jumbo Cornish Cross
- Orpingtons
- Crested breeds like Houdan, Sultan, Silkie, and Polish
- Cochin
- Faverolle
How to Use Chickens to Control Ticks
You have two options when it comes to using chickens to eat ticks in your yard: letting them free range, or using a movable chicken tractor.
Free Range
The benefit to free range is that it’s the healthiest option for the birds. They get plenty of exercise, a varied diet, and it keeps their day interesting. Free range chickens can and will eat a LOT of ticks. And, they’re just happier overall then chickens kept in confinement.
However, there are some distinct downsides to letting your chickens free range. I threaten my chickens daily because they come up on our porch, they scratch up my medicinal herb garden, they poop on our front doorstep…the list goes on. Although I’ve seriously considered keeping them penned, I’m still letting them free range because they’re helping control the tick population.
Chicken Tractor
If you don’t want to deal with the free range mess, you can keep your chickens in a movable chicken tractor. During the day the chickens stay in the pen and eat the bugs they find in their enclosure. You can maximize their bug eating ability by moving the tractor around the yard throughout the day. However, if you work away from home this won’t be an option.
If you have just one or two chickens, you can use a mesh playpen with no bottom. If you have a larger flock, you’ll need a larger tractor on wheels, which will cost significantly more unless you build it yourself. Even many large tractors won’t accommodate more than 4 or 5 chickens at most.
More Natural Ways to Control Ticks
In addition to using chickens to eat ticks, there are plenty of other ways to control this invasive pest.
- Cut the Grass. Keep your grass cut short because ticks love tall grass.
- Rake Leaves. Ticks love the moisture in old leaves, so keep all them raked up and out of the yard.
- Avoid Brush Piles. Keep brush piles far away from your home. Ticks love the shady protectiveness of a brush pile.
- Use DE. Purchase food grade Diatomaceous earth (DE) and sprinkle around your home and in the yard. DE damages a tick’s body structure and causes it to die of dehydration. It’s made from the fossilized remains of ocean organisms, and it’s completely safe and environmentally friendly. However, keep in mind that DE will kill good bugs too, so it’s best to use it only in areas where there is a significant tick population.
- Discourage Animals. Deer and mice are huge tick carriers. Do whatever you can to keep these animals and rodents out of your yard.
- Use Cedarwood Oil. Cedarwood oil is an effective natural tick repellent for humans and pets. It works much like DE does, by damaging the tick’s body so that it dies of dehydration. You can sprinkle cedarwood oil on your clothing, or make a natural tick spray by mixing it with water and other tick-repelling oils like peppermint and citronella.
- Use ACV. According to Farmers Almanac, apple cider vinegar is an effective tick repellent. Mix it with water and neem oil to make an effective and safe natural tick spray.
Last Word
Last year, our chickens weren’t old enough to free range until mid-summer. We did notice a decline in the number of ticks we got in the yard once they were let loose, but it was slow.
This year, there has been a drastic reduction in the number of ticks in the yard. I haven’t gotten a single tick from kneeling in the grass working in the flowerbeds. I haven’t seen any ticks around our back porch or crawling on the fences like I did last year.
We still have ticks in our pastures, simply because 26 chickens can’t cover 10 acres. Most of our property is a perfect haven for ticks: tall grasses in the pasture and plenty of moist, wooded forest. However, during the summer, we try to limit how much we go out there.
I’d love to hear from you. Do you use chickens to eat ticks? Are you thinking about it?
