Prevention is the best method, but there are a couple simple ways to get rid of them after the fact.
This weeks reader question is how can I get rid of darkling beetles from my chicken coop.
The short answer is that you can use Diatomaceous Earth to make a barrier around the coop and/or nest boxes (please use care when spreading DE). Diatomaceous Earth is safe for the chickens and runs $12 for a 10 pound bag (food grade) on Amazon.
There are also a myriad of poisons you can use if you want to go that route. Head over to your local Home Depot or Lowes and find a poison that lists Darkling Beetles on the back and spread that around the coop. If you go with the poison you need to be very careful not to allow your chickens near the poison until it has dissipated. I have had to use ant poison before and my girls were not allowed to free range for about 2 weeks afterwords. That is probably way more time than was necessary since the ants were gone within a couple of days, but I was playing it safe. Anything your chicken eats will end up in her egg (if it doesn't kill her).
Prevention goes a long way with darkling beetles. When you feed mealworms make sure that you give enough that the chickens eat them all and none can escape. You can also make sure that they are fed on a flat surface so there is nowhere for the mealworm to burrow and hide. Chickens will eat the darkling beetles too so when you see them go ahead and feed them out (not if you put poison down though).
Darkling beetles are the adult form of the mealworm. They like to hide in cool dark places. They are completely safe for a chicken to eat so unless you have a major problem with them I would leave them alone.
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