DARN RATS!!!!

[hcammack]

in out cabin we use a bucket half filled with water with penut butter spread along the inside rim. this seemed to work pretty well for mice I dont know about rats though. You would catch the occasional chipmunk witch was sad Imagin if instead of rats and mice there were chipmunks everywhere that would be so cool they definatly are not as messy or bothersome as rats and mice.

Henry

 

[TerrasCritters]

Ugh we have HORRABLE rats here, I sit out there in the evening with my pellet gun and shoot them.
Your right the birds dont even care!
I have not talked myself into paying the money for the zap traps but i think I will.
I dont use the poison either, they eat the poison get thursty then what? Drink from my birds water, putting the poison into the water?? No thanks!

 

[mom'sfolly]

If you do resort to poison, try a maze trap. It will usually keep out other non-rodent type animals. We've had a household rat problem when the construction started near us. I resorted to professionals. My neighbors who didn't fought the problem over months. Outdoor rats are hard to do. Maybe someone near you has a ratting dog or a ferret that can help for awhile.

 

[silkiechicken]

Well, I did resort to poison in a bucket behind the coop facing the holes actually. Bought the bucket of like 40 chunks, and two block packs at home depot. I forgot the name of the blood thiner but it was the alternative to warfrin. It's expensive stuff too!

Basically what happened is half got eaten the first night, and the rest were gone in about 5 days. Something tells me there are still rats though.

So now I have decided to just quit the battle, and feed the rats with the chickens.

 

[paganfish]

UGH! I am SO glad my cats are good mousers AND we don't have rats. I hope we NEVER do! I remember, as a kid, seeing one...yes, it was as big as a cat. I about threw up! It was on the kitchen counter.

This was in Texas (where every thing is BIG-ger)

I guess there were mice here at one point because as I was cleaning around in one of the buildings out there-I noticed some rat droppings that were OLD! It's a good thing I was using a dust mask. That's another thing...if you are cleaning around where you think there might be rats/mice-use a mask. You don't want to be breathing any residual pee/poop dust. Trust me!

I have 2 of the BEST mouser cats inside and 2 outside. The ones outside kept coming in from neighboring farm to *hang out* with me but were feral so they would keep their distance. I ended up buying food for them when I realized the female was pregnant. (I am a sucker-I know!)

She didn't let me get near her UNTIL she had her kittens and that is when I had her fixed...and HIM too. Now, no MORE kittens! LOL! I saw her teach the kittens how to hunt by bringing in field mice, gophers and insects. It was cute! Out of the 5 kittens only one made it...my Black Bandit. (The others either went to another farm or got eaten by predators. We have a couple of owls out in the field and LOTS of coyotes! Bandit was the only BLACK kitten so I think it was the latter since he was hard to see at night. I cringe to think he might have gotten et.)

I had HIM fixed and now lives inside with me. He's the best mouser I've ever had. WOW!

I do go on. Sorry...just want you to know-feel for you and good luck!

Pedro ~:-V

 

[silkiechicken]

My cat is old and mice aren't a probelm as she does a good job at keeping them out of the house, but that's it. As for the chicken area though... I doubt the cat wants to mess with the rats. There are a few ferals around too but they come and go as they please.

I'm sure there are droppings but where ever they are, they are probably decomposed and mixed in with all the other droppings out there. Come to think of it, the only droppings from mice or rodent's I've ever seen are in the bottom of cages when I clean them or in the roll-about balls they get to run in when I let them out. Oh wait! One other place, in a rat that I disected! Hehe, time to stalk the rats again with a pellet rifle.

 

[LindaN]

I have two mid-size mixed breed dogs that are my rat control. They're both terrier mixes and will go after anything that moves. Needless to say, they are kept away from the chickens!

Can you borrow a good vermin dog for a few days?

A few years ago, my two dogs tag-teamed to kill a big rat that tried to nest under the porch. It was amazing to watch, but I screamed my head off nearly the whole time since I was afraid the rat would hurt one of them.

 

[silkiechicken]

Well, can't do that since there are no fences and my chickens are free roaming. Don't know anyone with useful dogs either.

 

[Henrietta23]

Quote:
Oh, I am saving this one! We had four rats living under a large rock near the hen house last winter. We trapped one live and let it loose about 10 miles away. We had no luck trapping the other three the same way. It took a few more days to snap trap two more. The last one just wouldn't fall for it. We watched it for days, then a week as it came out from under the rock, ran a certain path then up into the chicken house to the feeder and back. We put rocks over the openings in the ground; it just made new ones. Finally one morning I went out and it was dead in the trap under the hen house. I bet those suggestions would have helped! We had never had a rat problem before that (in 8 years of having chickens) and haven't seen any since. But I'm saving this because I'm sure we haven't seen the last of them.

 

[Princessferf]

We have our first batch of hens this year. 11 of them and they're laying beautifully! Around August we discovered rats in the coop. Our coop is a good size (around 11 X 12) and we have a "people" side where we store straw and feed (in a metal garbage can w/ lid) and other chicken-related gear. On the "chicken" side which is 3/4 of the coop is where the rats seem to get their food.

We have been using snap traps on the people side. We remove the traps when the chickens are let out to range. Now that its cold (we're in Wisconsin), I haven't been letting the chickens out. We've had snow, lots of wind and other weather that makes me want to keep the girls in the coop. But because the coop is closed, my cats haven't been able to get in the coop to chase out rats or mice.

I know our cats are hunters, but maybe we're feeding them too much so they aren't as interested in hunting?

I've been seeing more rats and evidence of them being around, so I think we're going to have to bring out the snap traps again. Like most of you, my girls don't seem to mind when the rats are in the coop. The nesting boxes are up off of the floor, and I'm not sure if a rat could get up there to get at the eggs.

Keep up the great suggestions and tips, I'm going to try some of them this weekend!