Extinguish Professional Fire Ant Bait is a fire ant bait that contains an insect growth regulator (a chemical called methoprene). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved it for use in many sites, including zoos, rangeland, and cropland. While not specifically labeled for use around chickens, the active ingredient methoprene is not known to have any effect on vertebrates. Because of its safety, methoprene is exempt from the requirements of food tolerances as established by the EPA. Methoprene is used in food animals such as cattle, where it is fed to the cattle in order to control horn flies in the manure. It also has uses on stored grains and other food commodities. All in all, it is a safe choice to use in your free range chicken situation. Read the label on the product and follow the directions on how to broadcast the bait across the area where you want to get rid of the fire ants. It is always a good idea to not allow the chickens in the area where the bait has been applied for about 24 hours. However, incidental ingestion will not harm the birds. Excluding the birds will give the fire ants a chance to pick up most of the bait and take it back into their nests (studies have shown that fire ants pick up most of the bait in about 12 hours). When applied in late afternoon/early evening in the summer, it will take a month or so
before the maximum level of control will be achieved and with a regular program of two applications a year you can be relatively fire ant free. Also, see Publication E-445, Poultry Pest Management.