Rat Control 101

[SE_Gardener]

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.

Get an infestation and you'll change your mind.

 

[Al Gerhart]

2011 I was hatching chicks using a home made incubator and realized the chicks were disappearing faster than I was hatching them. I had set the hanging feeder down on the ground so the feathered out chicks could get to the starter feed. I picked up the feeder and a basket ball size hole of rats boiled up out of the hole and disappeared in seconds.

I built a treadle feeder out of wood that day. Three days later the rats were mostly gone, those that remained were starving and staggering around and my two dogs were killing them as fast as they could catch them. Never lost a chick after the fourth day. Feed use dropped to a quarter of what it was the week before.

Now, you were saying?

 

[Miami Leghorn]

I apologize ahead of time to whomever I'll offend with this but in light of a good joke here goes.

Rats gone?

And frankly it's art imitating life because for some reason on my property when we got the rat population under control the raccoons got bolder I don't know why.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I apologize ahead of time to whomever I'll offend with this but in light of a good joke here goes.

Rats gone?
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And frankly it's art imitating life because for some reason on my property when we got the rat population under control the raccoons got bolder I don't know why.

Maybe because rats are terrifying

 

[Hayden Goseek]

Maybe because rats are terrifying

Or because they kill the babies in the nest.