building paradise for the birds

[birdman55]

these are some of our peafowl..

 

[MsPoultry]

Sometimes when I catch a rat, I make it half dead and leave it to the cats, but the cats are hesitated to touch it and when the rat screams and stand up, ready to fight with the cats, the cats just freaked out and run away, watching it in a distance. Maybe what I caught is too big for them and they can only deal with small ones.

No they just aren't killers one of my cats brought in a really big wild rat (big for a wild one anyway about 10 inches with tail)and had it killed and then ate the whole thing

 

[perchie.girl]

The best for rats are Terriers.... Rat Terriers Jack Russels.... The only problem with Terriers is they will go to ground after a rodent.... we are talking moving yards of dirt and full on excavation.

I used warfarin for rats in a house.... One bite is all it takes. they were the size of a bedroom slipper... an adult bedroom slipper... Roof rats.... we get em in the palm trees too.



I had an Aussie Cross dog that went nuts after I moved the dog couch from the planter in the front of the house... (yep I am one of those neighbors...

) She saw one rat dive into a hole under the couch and she removed ALL of the dirt from the planter tracking down four nests killing two adults four tweenagers and uncovering four sets of Pinkies. She would shake the rat till it was dead and I would tell her to drop it and she would go after another. I didnt want her to eat any.

After that I bought the Warfarin... Set it up in Bait stations out of reach of the dog. Once poisoned the rats dont offer any sport for the dogs...

But the dead ones I found were a bit larger than the picture above.

deb

 

[Chrysolophus]

My guineas from hatch out to its adulthood. It's pleasant to hear their calls and they are my alarm team, they will warn other fowls of the danger when preditors come

 

[perchie.girl]

got eight cameras...but 50 guineas with hundred eyes would be so much nicer...personal watch dogs I guess....that would be cool...we plan on free ranging some of our future peafowl stock

The deal too is they also watch out for the other predators out there.... At least in the day time. Fortunately guineas dont make a peep at night unless disturbed.

I had a bob cat come in and go up the only tree I had and pick off about three guineas a night.

Thats why you have to have a self replicating flock. If you cant get them to roost in a coop.

For what its worth I gear the guinea housing differently than chickens. Roosts as high as you can get them. Mine were more than six feet up.... Same coop as the chickens though. Funny thing was when I would chekc on them there were a few chickens hunkered down with em. Usually bantam bachelor roos.... ""Yeah were cool hanging with the biker gang""

deb

 

[Chrysolophus]

Maybe you have some really big rats there in China?  Can you use traps or poison?

I have tried trap and poison before, no use. Anf they hide in the roof, I can't get them out. when i hit the roof with a stick, they just runto the other side

 

[perchie.girl]

My guineas from hatch out to its adulthood. It's pleasant to hear their calls and they are my alarm team, they will warn other fowls of the danger when preditors come

Oh how cute are those wittle bacon heads....

My plan is to have broody hens to do my Keet raising as well.

Its not that guineas are bad mothers its that there needs to be a very large flock to help protect the hen and keets while they are vulnerable. Male Guineas even un related guineas will do baby sitting duty while the female forages. They have a totally different flock structure than chickens do.

deb

 

[Chrysolophus]

T

The best for rats are Terriers.... Rat Terriers Jack Russels.... The only problem with Terriers is they will go to ground after a rodent.... we are talking moving yards of dirt and full on excavation. I used warfarin for rats in a house.... One bite is all it takes. they were the size of a bedroom slipper... an adult bedroom slipper... Roof rats.... we get em in the palm trees too. I had an Aussie Cross dog that went nuts after I moved the dog couch from the planter in the front of the house... (yep I am one of those neighbors... ) She saw one rat dive into a hole under the couch and she removed ALL of the dirt from the planter tracking down four nests killing two adults four tweenagers and uncovering four sets of Pinkies. She would shake the rat till it was dead and I would tell her to drop it and she would go after another. I didnt want her to eat any. After that I bought the Warfarin... Set it up in Bait stations out of reach of the dog. Once poisoned the rats dont offer any sport for the dogs... But the dead ones I found were a bit larger than the picture above. deb

that's a big one, thumb up

 

[Chrysolophus]

Chrys--it sounds like you might have to resort to poison... a last resort for me but sometimes it is the only thing that works.  I dont know what you have available there but for people stateside I use Tomcat with great results!

I've tried poison before, at first the result was ok, but i think they are fast learner, after a while they didn't eat the poison any more but still keep reproducing, the number soon multiplied

 

[Chrysolophus]

le

Oh how cute are those wittle bacon heads....    My plan is to have broody hens to do my Keet raising as well.

Its not that guineas are bad mothers its that there needs to be a very large flock to help protect the hen and keets while they are vulnerable.  Male Guineas even un related guineas will do baby sitting duty while the female forages.  They have a totally different flock structure than chickens do.

deb

learned a lot, they are very friendly to me