We used to have a lot more issues with fire ants until the laying hens discovered the mounds have larve in them. Now out in the field we come across small depressions where they used to be. The hens just scatch the heck out of the mounds and eat the larve.
Of course chickens do a number on your mulch, but when the plants get some size on them we run chickens in the beds and they take care of most of the insect pests for us.
