Rat Control 101

[Katkumo]

I am going to try this!! We've done this for mice around our house with success!! Can't believe we didn't think to do this with rats!

I wish you all the luck in the universe. I am in the process of making a new and updated video. Just make sure you get the tallest can you can possibly find. They jump! And if they are large enough, I think they straddle the rim and the rod (ugh, can't believe I typed that, but that's what it is). Ours are now tunneling underneath rubber mats on that barn floor that was there for the horses. They are good mats, and I hate to take them up, but I am doing to go rat-crazy one of these days and do it, I know I will. I'll have the new video up in a day or so. Seriously, though, may all the rodent killing goddesses be on your side!

 

[Howard E]

I wish you all the luck in the universe. I am in the process of making a new and updated video. Just make sure you get the tallest can you can possibly find. They jump! And if they are large enough, I think they straddle the rim and the rod (ugh, can't believe I typed that, but that's what it is). Ours are now tunneling underneath rubber mats on that barn floor that was there for the horses. They are good mats, and I hate to take them up, but I am doing to go rat-crazy one of these days and do it, I know I will. I'll have the new video up in a day or so. Seriously, though, may all the rodent killing goddesses be on your side!

If I'm reading this correctly, what you are saying is that despite the good success with your trapping program, you still have a large number of rats?

If so, that confirms the notion that trapping alone won't do it.

 

[Folly's place]

Only poison bait stations will eliminate a rat colony!
Mary

 

[Katkumo]

If I'm reading this correctly, what you are saying is that despite the good success with your trapping program, you still have a large number of rats?

If so, that confirms the notion that trapping alone won't do it.

That is exactly right! Trapping alone is not enough. I wouldn't say I have a large number, I am keeping their population in check. They are no longer thriving, and no longer eating the chicken food that I buy. I fear that is the best I can hope for, honestly, but it is better than them migrating to my house, and better than them eating massive amounts of chicken feed.

 

[Katkumo]

And FYI, I tried the peppermint.... nothing. No results whatsoever.

 

[Howard E]

The link to a highly relevant video on rat proofing included on my original post has gone dead, and I'm no longer able to edit the original post.

This is the new link.......

IF anyone from BYC with ability to edit the original post can make this change, it would help.

 

[All Ball]

Regarding RatX: If you look at its reviews, you'll see a lot of 1s and a lot of 5s - because the rats either love it and it works or they ignore it and it doesn't. One homesteader teacher/founder of a regional homesteading email group swears by it, so it has been successful for one person with land with prolific hens, rabbits, fruit, etc. My rats aren't very interested in it but I may not be baiting in the best way.

 

[cmom]

I had a rat infestation in one coop but have since renovated it. I bought the Tomcat rat bait boxes. I used the bait that came with the bait boxes but the rats seem to ignore it. I bought some of the Just One Bite and I had to replace the baits more often. I like the little window on top of the bait boxes so you can see the bait and only the rats and mice can get to it.

 

[SE_Gardener]

This thread is a condensed summary of information found in numerous other threads, and all of it designed to help concerned BYC growers deal with rat their infestations. It is divided into three parts:

1. Know your rat
2. Rat Proofing
3. Elimination

Each of these sections will also include some older historic videos produced by the CDC (Center for disease control). While these videos are dated in appearance, the information presented in them remains valid today and will be helpful to anyone seeking to rid themselves of rats.

Know Your Rat

Before you can do much about your rat problem, you need to know which one of the two major species of rats you have. Behaviors are different, and thus control methods are also different. Brown rats will make up the vast majority of the rats BYC growers will need to deal with.

1. Brown Rats

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_rat

2. Black Rats

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_rat

This video explains the nature of Brown Rats......whether your colony is small or large.....this is what you are up against:

Rat Proofing

When it comes to rat proofing a structure, most growers will be stunned, bordering on overwhelmed, as to the length a person must go to create a physical structure that is rat proof. Rats are that good.

Here are two resources to study:

https://wildlife.unl.edu/pdfs/rodent-proof-consturction-structural.pdf

A few key items to remember: First is the size of an opening a rat can slip through......no holes larger than an inch, so in general, be thinking 1/2" hardware cloth over any openings. Second, if you are really up against it, metal and cement are your friends. Cement floors and foundations to create barriers of exclusion, along with metal siding or metal clad doors and jams. Study the video to see what a rat can chew through and all the ways then can gain entry and the difficulty of exclusion becomes clearer. Of all the things to study, this rat proofing video is one of the best to follow.

Elimination

Some growers find that exclusion via rat proofing efforts is all that is needed to work for them. That means elimination of all access to food, water and shelter within and around the coop. Theory being you can starve them out and they will move on. For others, even that doesn't work.

If rat proofing doesn't work, and elimination is still your goal, then you are faced with killing your rats by one means or another. Trapping, shooting, dogs, cats, etc. are all methods found in this arena, as is the use of poison bait blocks. A lot of folks find the latter to be objectionable, but experience has proven that unless and until a grower is willing to use them, their rat problem may never go away. At best, it may be diminished, but never eliminated.

Some resources towards elimination:

http://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/phag/2016/01/29/controlling-rats-and-mice-around-the-farm/

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/rodenticides.pdf

When considering the use of one particular product, it may be helpful to print out this summary sheet, then look at the product label to ID what the active ingredient is, then decide if that is what you want to use, or perhaps you would prefer to use something else.

Then there is this video:

Note the issue of rat control using traps, etc. is addressed within the first minute of the video. That is as true today as it was then, and for the same reasons. Trapping alone will barely dent the population of a rat colony. They are too smart for that to work. Traps can be used to monitor populations, but is not an effective method of control when used alone.

Beyond that, the baits used are different today than are shown in the video, but the process is the same, including the use of multiple forms of bait blocks, and for the same reasons. And you can use game cameras to monitor activity (instead of tracking powder), but the process is the same.

Lastly, if and when you decide to use poison bait blocks, it should be a given that you are going to do so as safely as possible so as to avoid the danger of any primary or secondary poisoning of unintended targets. This means any poisons will be served up from secure bait boxes that only the rats and mice can gain entry into. As noted in the video, if allowed to, it is the nature of rats to drag a bait off from where you left it, and in doing so, leave it exposed to non targeted species.......like perhaps your birds. So proper bait stations use methods to pin the bait in place so it has to be eaten where you left it.

Secondary poisoning is a real concern of some, but can be mitigated to a large extent by how things are done, and if a real concern, you can select baits that pose very low risk of secondary poisoning. Baits like Terad3 from Bell Labs.

As for which brands of poison baits to use, there are a lot of products to chose from. What you use will be up to you, and will be based on local availability, price, and your experience as to which products your rats will accept.

A good place to start is with Bell Labs products, which are used by many professional exterminators. These products may not be available locally as others are, but can be ordered from Amazon and perhaps ebay. Disadvantage is they come in larger quantities than most need, thus the expense factor runs high. Their bait boxes are very good, however, and those can be ordered in small quantities.

https://www.belllabs.com/products

As for how much to buy, if you have a large infestation, don't be shy about how much to get. They will go through more than you might think.

Lastly, know that once you have had rats, you are always subject to having more, so it becomes critical that you monitor for activity, and that goes on pretty much forever.

Hope this information helps.

Terad3 is approved for food production facilities, organic growers and food processing facilities. There is NO secondary poisoning. The active ingredient is Vitamin D3 that results in vitamin poisoning. The rat must eat lethal dose of 15,000mg depending on kg weight - for average male norway rat that would be 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon. The physiological effect is calcification of vital organs causing death within 3-5 days of lethal dose. Because toxicity is doseage/weight dependent hawks/birds, chickens, dogs etc eating a carcass of rat receiving lethal dose at most would have a stomach ache or vomit but certainlny not poisoned or serious side effects. I use commercial bait stations that can hold 8 poison blox stacked in twos on spindle rods inside the station. I also slather bacon grease on the bloxs, close the station cover and position near visible activity. This is not an eat once die poison they will accumulate the lethal dose over a couple days but they will die in their burrows underground with little if any odor. I find it a perfect solution for my rat maintenance/control. During infestation treatment I remove feeders and water buckets placing inside metal cans with lids. There is no food or water available over night which is critical to drive the rats to the poison. I now water and feed inside coops that are raised and locked at night.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Even a small bucket of that product costs more than a simple treadle feeder, nearly the price of a good treadle feeder, something that solves the actual problem instead of fighting with the symptoms forever more.

While the idea of less secondary poisoning is good, as any predator consuming the rodents will be absorbing the excess vitamin so the risk of secondary poisoning is less but not zero, the non stop need for poison takes time and money. Rodents are smart too, they will figure out what is killing them and avoid the bait.

Makes sense for huge commercial chicken houses as a stop gap measure but in the end the cheapest way and surest way to eliminate rodents is to stop feeding them. Fifth Crow Farms solved their problem with a few dozen of our treadle feeders for thousands of pastured chickens. Every five or six years they order a dozen replacement springs at buck each as their main problem was wild birds. Google their name and treadle feeder and you will find the story.

There is no reason to resort to poison as the main control method. It is irresponsible to do so.