Dealing with rats

[Manhen]

I let my birds free range in my yard during the day, and then lock them in at night, but I have a problem with rats in the yard. I have noticed a good amount of them, and sometimes I see them eating the chicken food during the day. Any suggestions as to what to do about them? I was thinking about putting rat poison in the garage, up high where the chickens can't get it.

I have read only a few of the posts. Could I suggest hiring a professional once, and watch. We lost a dog as a kid to mole peanuts so.... I have heard traps in a cage that keeps the birds out inside the coop will work. Or put them out at night. rats...ew...and I am a dude you know???

Have the larger predators in your area been exterminated? So...you could raise cats... )

 

[Manhen]

However, we have BOTH rats and mice in our barn every year. We have more rats than mice. I not only see their droppings, I see them running about.

I have a barn without rats or mice. I don't wear my glasses....

 

[Manhen]

What do you do with the rats once they are in the Havahart box? Presumably you kill them - what's the fastest, easiest way to do this please?

If you are squeamish, kind, and can spare time and money,,,dry ice. However my ex mum-in-law wanted her moles trapped "so she could cut them in half to make sure they were DEAD!". However I can't say I know how I would.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I think the snap traps are the quickest and therefore the "kindest." Drowning ... shudder.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

I live in Florida so you can imagine the different predators we have. We have opossums, armadillo, hawks, vultures, gophers, rats, snakes, and who knows what else. W e do have some feral cats that help to keep the rodent numbers down.

Some of our infestation comes from the swamp that backs up to my neighbor across the street. One neighbor feeds one of the cats because she hunts rats and etc.

My chickens chase one of the other cats. So far I don't have any rats or mice that I know of.

Good luck to all of you.

 

[rocking chickens]

My best advice would be to put up owl and hawk boxes to encourage them to move in.
We had a pair of Kestrels nest in our house and our mouse and vole problems stopped.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

After reading the entire thread, I was very curious about the rats and mice with the poisons available.

I went to the internet and searched for rat poisons and found an article called: Best Rat and Mouse Poison [UPDATED 2019] Buyer's Guide | Top-...

https://stoppestinfo.com/78-top-5-rats-and-mice-baits-feed-the-nasty-rodent-to-death.html

This is a 20 page guide for poisons, effects, types of poison, and how it works. I hope this might be of some help for you.

 

[KaleIAm]

I use the electronic traps, ie electrocution. I have used snap, poison, glue, old-formula anti-freeze, cats and electric.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002665ZTC/?tag=backy-20

Electric is the most humane, imo and glue is the cruelest, by far. IMO, poison is dangerous to have around due to potential colateral damage and electric using batteries, the safest. Actually, anti-freeze is by far the most dangerous and should only be used in very specific, enclosed environments and likely illegal ... Don't Do It.

'My' rats seem to prefer dog food. I use Taste of the Wild ... for my dogs and secondarily for the rats.

The truth from my own experience and readings about catching rats is that they need to be studied. Where are their trails? what holes/entrances do they use? etc. Different populations of rats seem to behave differently, eg: 'my' rats don't seem to poop along their trails; pee of course, but rarely poop. Other populations seem to poop everywhere. Black Light Flashlights can be used to see their urine and know their trails. I also recently started using trail cams to check on rat patterns. Very helpful.

I am not familiar with rats around chickens as I am a newby egg farmer. A new learning experience.

We've bought 2 of those electric traps. Killing the rats as painlessly as possible is a priority for me. The traps worked very well at first but both stopped after a few weeks. Has that not been so with you?

 

[RaineyTN]

Thankfully ive never really had to worry about rats or mice. But I do usually open the coop up to this about 4-5 times a year.

 

[Manhen]

Thankfully ive never really had to worry about rats or mice. But I do usually open the coop up to this about 4-5 times a year.

View attachment 1970874

did u eat IT?