Bad bad rat problem! Please help!

[MissPrissy]

I don't know if cats will eat it or not. I know if they catch the mice they will eat those and it won't hurt them like a poisoned mouse will.

Moonwalker, I still question the use of poison even locked in a crate. Rat poison makes the rats and mice very thirsty and they do crawl out looking for water. If they are crawling out inside of the chicken coop and a chicken eats one that chicken will get second hand poison. Chickens will also eat a dead mice found in the coop. I would not be willing to risk my chickens getting poisoned second hand.

I do like the idea of the cage. I had never thought about that. The mix could then be left out near the feeders and waterers where the mice are coming to anyway.

Genius! You people are so smart!

 

[jjthink]

Quote:
Happily, I never had any climb the exterior walls and get in - there were no gaps for them to crawl in and they couldn't chew a hole into a vertical wall apparently! I guess when they are chewing through a floor from below they have a foothold (ground beneath them) and that makes their project manageable whereas when they are in a vertical position trying to climb a wall they can't quite accomplish the task at hand of chewing at the same time!. That's speculation, but never once so much as a dime sized hole in the vertical walls (or roof). The hardware cloth in the inside on the floor that I wrapped up the side of the walls a bit took care of any attempt they might make to stand on the ground outside and nibble through the wall. No evidence they they tried but had they, the hardware cloth would have stopped them in their tracks. Drat - sorry if this is confusing to visualize. Because it was an insulated coop I had to change out the insulation when the hardware cloth was installed, because the rats had tunneled through the stuff and it was yukky (tho always using the floor to get in or out when they so desired - till the hardware cloth arrived, that is). The new insulation has stayed pristine.
JJ

 

[d.k]

*Ah, about the plaster of paris mix-- maybe you could funnel that into some half-gal. empty milk jugs and velcro them in the high places w/ h.d. velcro- with the cap off the rats could get in & out-- the cats & chickens wouldn't. Just a thought. . . .(Cats WOULD eat it-- they like sugar & pwdrd sugar also has cornstarch-- corn is a major component of MANY MANY catfoods.)

 

[Bawkadoodledoo]

dig up those babies and have a stirfry for the chickens!

 

[willheveland]

try a 5 gallon pail half full of water,lean a few boards like a ladder to the top of the pail and throw some bird seed in there.It should float on top,they will get in there and drown. good luck
will

 

[ae50mag]

contact someone that has chicken houses and get a bait station and some poision from them, they are less than 10.00 and most chicken houses get the bait for free from the company. that is what i use and it will kill them within minutes and chickens cant get to it.

frank

 

[gritsar]

If I had a rat problem, I'd be real hesistant to use any type of poison because of my pets. I have lots of things that I thought were Kitty, Jake, or Billy proof, only to find out they weren't. I like the idea of drowning or maybe even the chicken house bait stations.
I can't believe your cats (the ferals) aren't doing their job. Because Kitty is such an excellent rat killer and she was a feral, I just assumed most or all ferals were good at it. Live and learn. Hope you get your icky problem solved quickly asher.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

Dh said if you have pvc pipe and cap one end and slide the plaster of paris mixture into the capped end and cats, dogs, chickens can't get to it but the mice and rats could..Dixie

 

[poultrykeeper08]

i have been seeing alot of mice in my shed-barn its 10 x 20 So i put down rat poisning in one of the wholes in my barn and nailed a piece of wood over it . I did that last night . Just now i lifted the board and saw a big dead rat . I have only seen mice and now i have a rat problem . Will the rats kill chickens ?

 

[MissPrissy]

A big rat will kill smaller chickens and eat eggs. Smaller rats will naw on the chickens and take bites out them when they can effectively eating them alive. Mice, not so much active feeding on the chickens but are content to eat the feed. Mouse droppings in the feed bins is one of the reasons commercial operations test for disease because mice are carriers of all sort of things that can effect the chickens health.

The poison when put out, when eaten by a mouse or rat, when they die, if it is in the area of the chickens, the chickens will also eat the rats/mice. It causes second hand poisoning.

It really is not safe to put out poison for the rats in the area of the chickens due to that one reason in a small home operation.

I know I sound like a broken record but the idea of chickens eating a poisoned rat/mouse really bothers me and is why I use the plaster and sugar.

If the second hand poisoning doesn't kill them it can make them very sick and I am not interested in eatiing eggs from hens that ate a poisoned mouse.