Natural tick repellent for yard?

[Chris in VA]

We want more outdoor time, and I'm toying with the whole preschool outside idea--but we do have a lot of ticks. Is there a natural repellent that can be mixed up and sprayed in large quantities to keep them down? We can trim some of the higher grass, but I'm talking 5 acres of woods here.

[Once Again]

Guinea fowl?

[Chris in VA]

:lol::lol:

Guinea fowl?

Oh, our Golden Retriever would LOVE that!

"Snacks on the Wing..."

[2squared]

If there was, I would be buying it by the truckload. We live on five acres in the country, and my oldest three are out in the grove right now. We have tick checks constantly through the day, and we find those nasty things everywhere in our house.

[TengoFive]

I believe Sulfur powder works. You can also just dust it on yourself around your legs before you go out. I know this works for chiggers, and I think it will for ticks as well. Diatomaceous Earth may work as well. FWIW we have 12 guineas that our Golden hasn't touched or bothered in any way. We were getting ticks every day, but since we let them out about 3 weeks ago we haven't had anything.

The other possibility is to have your whole family take garlic on a regular basis. My friend does this with her family, and they haven't had any ticks on them in a few years.

[Karen in CO]

:iagree:

Guinea fowl?

 

Your golden is smart enough to be trained that they are yours and not to touch touch them.

[lllll]

We keep the grass cut short. I notice when our grass (more weeds than grass) gets several inches high we start seeing ticks more often. We also have chickens which roam the yard during daylight hours. We had 30 guineas once. They're great if you can stand the noise. I didn't mind it, but it drove some of our dc crazy. And they're pretty stupid birds to boot.

 

Also, if any of us are going out into the woods, we spray our shoes, socks, and, sometimes, lower legs with Cutter. The ticks crawl UP, so this helps considerably - even though there's nothing natural about it.

 

I also put Advantage on my dog during peak tick season. Sometimes we do the cats also, but they seem to avoid ticks somehow.

 

Another thing to watch out for are damp areas. When we lived in Idaho ("high desert" they called it) it was very dry, so no ticks. BUT, when we camped near any water there were millions of them. Ticks love those high moisture areas.

 

We all do "tick checks" every night, too. I put a full-length mirror on the back of the door in our tiny bathroom so they can do this before and after showering. When dc were small, I did it for them - especially their heads. It's easy to miss ticks there.

[Tess in the Burbs]

diatomaceous earth kills ticks doesn't it? it's a powder...couldn't you spread it out over the land with a seed spreader perhaps?

[Matryoshka]

I was going to suggest guinea fowl too. We have two (on one acre). They eat the ticks and make me laugh every time I look at them. :D

[Chris in VA]

Well, my backyard is one thing--we could use a spreader there. But the other 20 acres are heavy woods, and we can only walk thru. Guinea hens would be a blast, and yes, Riley would most likely leave them along, but the fox that lives on our property wouldn't! lol

 

I know we can do tick checks--we do, we do. Guess we'll just have to wait it out. I would like to take preschoolers out there for several hours, but I won't if they would come back tick-infested.

 

I remember taking some Swedish/Canadian friends out to look at our ruined mausoleum--we came back with about 20-30 ticks EACH, after only 30 minutes. It's a mess out there.

[Ann@thebeach]

I believe Sulfur powder works. You can also just dust it on yourself around your legs before you go out. I know this works for chiggers, and I think it will for ticks as well. Diatomaceous Earth may work as well. FWIW we have 12 guineas that our Golden hasn't touched or bothered in any way. We were getting ticks every day, but since we let them out about 3 weeks ago we haven't had anything.

The other possibility is to have your whole family take garlic on a regular basis. My friend does this with her family, and they haven't had any ticks on them in a few years.

 

Good to know. Very interesting about the guineas. Might have to look into this for our acreage.

[2squared]

Good to know. Very interesting about the guineas. Might have to look into this for our acreage.

 

Our guineas don't venture into our wooded areas or the areas with high grass. That's not so much help.

 

We have a shed that they roost in at night. We usually lock them in, but not always. I don't expect the animals will get them as long as they roost where they are supposed to. We had one that didn't come back, and she met an untimely death in the grove. Maybe that's why none of them will venture in there now?

[Matryoshka]

Guinea hens would be a blast, and yes, Riley would most likely leave them along, but the fox that lives on our property wouldn't! lol

 

They'll be fine during the day. I know we have a fox, because he's taken two guineas from us, but they were locked in the coop at the time. We have learned it must be like Fort Knox. After we made it more fox-proof, a raccoon managed to pick the lock and got some more, so now we've got more tricky locks as well.

 

So far, though, (knock wood!!!) they've been fine during the day - the predators really seem to come out at night - or, the guineas might just be able to get away - they're much more willing to fly than chickens, and one usually keeps watch while they're awake and browsing.

 

Just have to lock 'em in Fort Knox at night, and do be prepared that you might lose a few - just replace as needed. :( Some people do let them roam free, they roost high up in trees to keep away from predators - a badly locked coop is actually more dangerous because they can't get away.

 

They pretty much stay in our yard, but they do venture into the dense brush that rings our property - I think because it's full of ticks! :glare:

[CalicoKat]

we use Avon original Skin So Soft bath oil in the summer for bathtime and before we head out for fun on my mom's farm.

 

She also has guineas that helped, but with the bath oil we never have a problem.

 

We switch out our soaps in the summer for the Avon line and we're good.

[LostSurprise]

Diatomaceous Earth works, but you have to remember that it kills all bugs. It dries them up. When I use it I use it sparingly and just in specific areas.