Caught a big rat in a hav-a heart trap

[bucky52]

I was pretty sure I had a rat.I seen droppings in the nest box yesterday.And my hens laid their eggs in a nest box they hardly ever use.They are big hens and they normally lay in the nest box on the floor.And my hens was hesitant to go in their coop last night.But they did loss a flock mate on Sunday.from a heart attack.they are still looking and calling for her.I have been removing all food from the runs in the evenings.I know if we caught one there is more.I have had to deal with mouse,snakes and now rats this summer.My husband wanted to put rat poison under the coops.The chickens can't get to it.But I fear they may eat a dead mouse or small rat. I have tried mint in their nest box. That did not help. Any advice would be helpful.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

google bucket rat traps or stairway to heaven trap.

 

[bucky52]

thanks.i will see what I can find.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

those are homemade traps and work quite well

 

[jools2014]

Sorry to hijack the thread but maybe it will help the OP too-I have a question as to what is the more humane option-I have no problem catching rats/mice in my humane trap-I use snickers bars and they can't resist them. I could probably catch between 1-3 rats/mice every time I set the trap at night-although this is probably due more to the scale of the problem and how many rodents we have than the effectiveness of the trap alone (yikes).

I'm not sure of the best way to dispose of these rodents once caught-I did "rehome" a few but found out that they would most likely die if taken away from their home anyway-so not such a "humane trap" after all. Plus they would probably find their way back unless I went miles away. I am pretty much out of ideas for being "kind" to these creatures.

I have a pellet gun which my brother used to kill some in the humane trap but he said it took a while to kill them like this-I'm not sure I believe him as he has his own agenda since he wanted to poison them instead and believed the humane trap actually attracted them (can't win!) So I have held off on using the pellet gun for fear of causing excess suffering and making a bloody mess.. My other option is drowning-I could easily tip the trap up into a bucket full of water and drown them-I know the bucket rat traps are a similar method anyway. Does anyone have an opinion on the more humane of the two? I know neither are particularly nice. I know there will be a lot saying they are rats who cares, but I would like to cause the least amount of suffering if possible! Thank you.

 

[carlf]

Bucky52, I would set some large snap traps outside the run but close to by. Use peanut butter for bait. Also, put the rat poison outside in the same area. Every morning, looks for dead or dying rats to prevent the hens from eating them.

Jools, I am going to be blunt:
They are rats and mice, vermin. Just kill them. Use a snap trap or put out poison if you cant stand to drop a trap into a bucket of water. Or use the pellet gun, a pellet to the head is instant death to any mouse or rat. Raising and keeping chickens is not for the faint of heart.
AND NEVER NEVER NEVER relocate rodents or predators. Its probably illegal and your chance moving fleas, mange, lice, scabies and all sorts of other diseases from one location to another.

 

[jools2014]

Bucky52, I would set some large snap traps outside the run but close to by. Use peanut butter for bait. Also, put the rat poison outside in the same area. Every morning, looks for dead or dying rats to prevent the hens from eating them.

Jools, I am going to be blunt:
They are rats and mice, vermin. Just kill them. Use a snap trap or put out poison if you cant stand to drop a trap into a bucket of water. Or use the pellet gun, a pellet to the head is instant death to any mouse or rat. Raising and keeping chickens is not for the faint of heart.
AND NEVER NEVER NEVER relocate rodents or predators. Its probably illegal and your chance moving fleas, mange, lice, scabies and all sorts of other diseases from one location to another.

Hi,

I live out in the country so I was only relocating them elsewhere in the countryside-there are no houses or people around where I relocated them to in the past. I had no idea it might be illegal-what is the point in humane traps then? Presumably the makers of those want you to release them elsewhere? I will try the pellet gun first then bucket of water. Yeh you're right it's not for the faint of heart! Honestly I wish I had never got birds in the first place.

 

[carlf]

Its not about relocating them to where there are people, its about relocating parasites, disease, etc..
And you are moving vermin into another area where plenty of vermin already live. You are just plopping them down into some other critters territory, with no home range, to compete for what food is there.

The point of "humane" traps, is that if you catch a non-target animal you can release it unharmed. Which is not the case with snap traps or poison.

 

[jools2014]

Its not about relocating them to where there are people, its about relocating parasites, disease, etc..
And you are moving vermin into another area where plenty of vermin already live. You are just plopping them down into some other critters territory, with no home range, to compete for what food is there.

The point of "humane" traps, is that if you catch a non-target animal you can release it unharmed. Which is not the case with snap traps or poison.

I see makes sense. Like I said I did read it was a bad idea to relocate due to the rodents not having their regular food source (but not the diseases etc), which is why I have not done that since.

 

[Weehopper]

Drowning is not a humane way to kill anything. Use the pellet gun. That's a close as you are going to get to humane as far as rats go. I think the poison under the coop, with
no access to it for chickens or dogs or cats, is your best bet. There is a rat poison called Just One Bite...it does what it says. It is sold at most feed stores, and probably, hardware stores.