LizzieLloyd Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 A bit random but has anyone encountered a false widow spider in their coops? I've just been giving the WIR and coop a spring clean and am 99.9% I have just encountered one in the coop. I killed it to be on the safe side but in light of one of our girls dying without warning last Saturday I wonder if it could have been the culprit. I've googled it and it's a spot on match for a false widow.I've seen the injury they can inflict on humans so imagine a bite would be fatal to a little bantam. Anyone else found one lurking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Eek . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 All spiders are welcome in my garden so even if I did have one it wouldn't bother me. Maybe it was an orb spider because they look similar. Or even a crab one has similar markings although they tend to be white/pale green in my garden. I look upon them as pest munchers. If you do have one then killing won't stop them as they probably have already colonised the area anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzieLloyd Posted March 22, 2014 Author Share Posted March 22, 2014 It was very dark brown/black and shiny with short legs and a large abdomen with the oval cream markings on it. I would never normally kill any animal but in this circumstance and in light or Marjey's shock death last week I have suspicions. I'm very mindful now that we probably have more in the area so will wear thick gloves when cleaning the coop. Just wondered if anyone else had encountered them and if they were capable of killing a chicken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Think it's probably like if you get stung by bees or wasps - it can kill if you are allergic. This may be of help as so many have similar bumbley bottoms. Do not click on the link for any arachnophobes!!!! Or maybe I should say don't copy and paste as my links never seem to work! http://www.bugsandweeds.co.uk/spiders.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 No way I'm clicking on that link . Valkyrie, if you highlight your link and press the URL button above the text box, it makes it clickable. [url ]http://www.bugsandweeds.co.uk/spiders.html'>http://www.bugsandweeds.co.uk/spiders.html[/url ] http://www.bugsandweeds.co.uk/spiders.html (I've just added a space after each URL so it doesn't turn into a link) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyhole kate Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 There is nothing on this earth that would make me click that link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Interestingly, I hadn't heard of the 'false widow spider' until last weekend when my niece was bug-hunting with her children in the garden, and they caught one in the bug pot. This link here seems to suggest that reports of their deadliness are exaggerated, and in fact the author says that he has chickens. I think the death of your hen was probably a sad coincidence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 I only tolerate spiders because I know they catch flies but I really don't like them. Hubby caught a big spider indoors and gave it to the girls. It was only afterwards that I realised it could have been a false widow and could have caused them harm but I think they ate it pretty quick. LizzieLloyd I think I would have done the same as you just to be on the safe side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSilver Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 My son was petrified of spiders for a very long time. Granted there are some behemoths in the UK. A huge spider had run its web all through a storage box in my previous house and the silk was so strong I had to cut everything free with a scissors. Even with my son's issues we have a rule that spiders are cool if they are in the corners of my ceiling. If they are on the ground, they are Hoover-bait. Any spider big enough to feel getting sucked up iN the hose of my Dyson is just too bloody big! I doubt it was a false widow that got your hen, although spider bites are nothing to sneeze at if cellulitis kicks in , that could do a hen in, possibly, but there would have been more warning in that regard. It is worth figuring out what is around out there spider wise, it wouldn't do to kill beneficial spiders out of panic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Doh!!!! Thank you for the URL hint ANH!!! Although if I didn't like spiders I wouldn't click on that link. Whenever I open a book with a wasp piccie I jump back. I am training myself not to do that though but there are the unexpected surprises!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Doh!!!! Thank you for the URL hint ANH!!! No problem! Next masterclass = hiding the text and putting in a clickable word instead . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzieLloyd Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 I had enough trauma googling them in the first place. Then I googled Valkeries suggestions too and had to have a lay down! They look so much worse in a pic than real life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 They look so much worse in a pic than real life I thought the opposite as the pictures didn't move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Mwah ha haaaarrrrr! It's the size of them - close up for details! Which is why wasp pics make me jump! When I was younger you would have had the arghhh sound effects but now just a sharp intake of breath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 You wouldn't like Asian Hornets then Valkyrie. Apparently they may arrive on UK shores at any time now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Hornets I'm OK with funnily enough. We have had hornets ever since we lived here so I guess they have a des res somewhere in the woods nearby. I love their sound - the Harley Davidsons of the wasp world. Perhaps it's the brown bit that takes the edge off. I'm beginning to be a bit easier around ordinary wasps - until later in the year when they get cranky. I watch them come in the greenhouse (which used to freak me out a bit in days of yore) - they collect a fly and then they go back out through the same door. Now bees I sometimes help out, hover flies have to be helped out. 'Orrible flies are spider and wasp food! But these wasps are so darned clever they don't need help at all! Once at the allotment there was a huge queen hornet in our shed - I didn't half leg it then though! I did leave the door open for her to get out. She was not a happy girl - and huge was an understatement - she was enormous!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patsylabrador Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 (edited) I had several (false black widows - not hornets) in my greenhouse but they've disappeared. I read an article about them and although I've forgotten some I do remember it saying they are not aggressive and run away rather than attack. I experimented with them and a stick and that did seem to be true. Edited March 25, 2014 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Asian Hornets have yellow legs, unlike their European counterparts. Asian hornets kill bee hives and sting people readily. But the real problem is they sting and lay a pheromone trail to show the way to the rest of their hive, who then follow up the attack. There have been several deaths in France as a result and of course many in Asia every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzieLloyd Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 I'm sure there are a few more lurking in the coop crevices but I'm happy to leave them alone as long as they are no threat to chooks. Just need to be a bit vigilant when scooping up straw as that's where this one was lurking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Nasty little blighters the Asian hornets then! Luckily not had them here yet as far as I can tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckylass Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 I cleaned out my shed a couple of weeks ago and must have counted at least 8 false widow spiders. One of my hens ate them, not all, but at least 4. A couple of days later she wasn't herself and today we found her dead by the coop. Blood was at her vent and I can only assume that the poison from eating the spiders must have caused her to not produce enough protein to make the shell and as a consequent became egg bound, or the poison slowly diminished her from the insides. Either way, (and I am an arachnid lover) I would be rid of them around animals that could potentially eat them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Oh golly cluckylass, poor chicken, very sad to read that xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 (edited) Blimey that’s horrid. Glad I evicted the one I found in the coop yesterday then and that no hen saw it! Edited June 26, 2020 by mullethunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonChook Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 I wish I’d seen this thread a few days ago. I found a false widow spider at the weekend and let one of my hens eat it. It might just be coincidence of course but she became very lethargic over the next day or so and has now died 4 days after originally eating the spider. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
