Neighbor hates my chickens- will she do them harm?

[TheSitcomGirls]

Pictures! I got pictures of the entombed rats! They are HUGE and scary! No wonder I couldn't sleep! My poor chickens! There will be no rumble, but that is pretty funny!!!!!! Against DH's advice I went outside and shoveled a little. Have to move a little bit, right? I brought the camera and they are trying to chew their way out right now! DH had to go to work for a few hours. I am a little freaked out by the giant one that has managed to work a tiny piece of the hardware cloth loose. But they are so big I don't see how they can get out in a few hours. Please no. There were two that I saw. Plus one was covered in yuck all over his feet. Oh the horror! What is the yuck? I fear I will have to go outside and keep checking every 15 minutes or so. They will not make much progress that way until DH comes home and can double up the hardware cloth.

Nightmares!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I've been keeping up with this thread since it started, but haven't posted until now.

Oh my word! That guy certainly looks like he hasn't missed many meals! And to think there are many more in that wall *shudders*. Can you put some of that spray foam on the hardware clothe where they've worked it loose? Maybe that will keep them in until your DH gets home to double up the wire. The yuck is probably...well, I'm guessing you know what it is since there are quite a few trapped in there. EW.

When we first moved to our farm, the previous owners kept our 14 acre field in corn all the time. You wouldn't believe the rat population living in that field. We found them after we harvested the remaining corn and bush hogged the field. They were literally EVERYWHERE. To the point that my DH was running them over with the bush hog while he was mowing. It was awful. But, the hawks have had a field day with them since we cut. I notice one every now and then when I'm in the field, but usually my dog digs them out of the ground and dispatches them.
I feel for you, I really do. At least mine weren't living in any of our buildings. I do still keep a bucket trap set, but I haven't caught any rats in a long while. A mouse every now and then, but no rats (thank goodness).

Good luck getting rid of them, its going to be tough considering your neighbor keeps bird feed out all the time. I'm betting, even though you've got a good number trapped, that they're still just a small part of a much bigger problem :/

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

Your story of the rats in the field reminds me of when I was in college. The field behind the horse barn was plowed up for the first time in many years. Then all of sudden we had so many rats in the barn I was afraid to walk through in the dark! I worked in the horse barn as my job in school. Every night when I fed the horses their grain in the stalls I had to carry a small shovel to scoop the rats out of the empty feed buckets before I could dump the new grain in! I couldn't bring myself to smash the rats. I still can't. But the rats were a self-limiting problem. Other than the few nibbles of grain the horses dropped on the floor there was not a lot of food. All the grain was stored away from gnawing mouths. I think it took about a month or two and the rats all disappeared. I remember the first time I walked in the barn and it was silent. No rustling, squeaking or the sound of angry stomping from a horse. That's all I am hoping for. To be able to walk into my coop and not hear rustling or see fear on my chicken's little faces. The rats need to go! I am feeling a little sorry for the entombed ones, as scared as I am of them. But I must be strong, for my chickens.

 

[aart]

Soooo...what will become of the 'entombed'?
They are all trapped in the eave?
A long slow demise?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Good question, how will you get them out of there? I wouldn't think you'd want to leave them, there gonna stink when they die. Maybe a PVC pipe tunnel leading to a deep trash can?

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

That is the question that DH and I have been talking about for two days! I just can't let him open anything until they're dead. None can escape! Escape is not an option! The plan of the hour is once we're sure they're all dead, he will open up the lair from the outside with the demo saw and a trash can underneath... whatever falls out, falls out. There may be a few that will be permanently stuck in the tunnel if they tried to get through when it was full of wet spray foam. I'm sure glad my coop has a lot of windows.

This is so not me to torture an animal, any animal, but I don't what else to do. Any opening up of the eave means a chance of escape. I asked DH to put up more hardware cloth on the next eave over from the entombed rats. I was worried they might get through the board in between the eaves some how.

"You think they might chew through a 2 inch thick oak board that's flush with the ceiling?" he asked. "Not possible." But he did what I wanted anyway. He knows I would worry. He did three more eaves today with hardware cloth and emptied another can of spray foam into every place I pointed that looked suspicious. Yes, this afternoon I was the crazy lady.

I have no idea how long this is going to take. We had the roof replaced last summer but water still runs off the edges of the building sometimes and trickles down the stone. For all I know the snow on the roof is going to slowly melt and drip right through the lair, providing just enough water to keep them alive. Otherwise, one more day and that's 3 days in there with no water. They are so fat, I think they could live for months with no food. So l will keep listening for sounds of chewing and sniffing the air for signs that the nightmare is over!

 

[Kusanar]

I could have sworn I commented earlier.... but, I would put some poisoned rat bait in with them, just pass it through the wire, let them have a quicker death, they will be hungry by now and should eat it. They are contained, so no risk of the sick and dying rats being eaten by something...

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

Oh I wish I knew with 100% certainty that they are contained then I would be able to sleep much better tonight! As things get more desperate I just don't know what is going to happen!

 

[WthrLady]

I agree with one escape tube into a deep can, greased sides and the tube not touching the can. Check often. Rats can swim. Rats can chew through metal.

 

[WthrLady]

Oh and the smell of o e decaying rodent is horrific...the smell of many...omg!