freaking RATS!!!

[Ladyhawke1]

Quote:
Well that might work for the rural areas. When I first had my “rat” problem, ten years ago I used traps and I was very successful. I trapped about 15 over a two-week period. I then disposed of them in brown paper bags and put them my trash can. Very neat and clean. Then the city picks up the trash. Right?

Well a few weeks later, I get a visit from the city telling ME that I have a rat problem. They, the city said they “found” them in the “leaves” in my front yard. THERE WERE NO RATS IN THE LEAVES ON MY LAWN.

Our houses are so close together and I AM THE ONLY ONE WITH RATS. What the city did and does is separate your trash and they go through everything. They found MY rats in nice brown paper bags next to addressed trash mail. Now they could safely harass me.

So now dear chicken lovers…if I ever kill a rat, it will be SSS. Thank you city folks for showing me the “light”.

 

[PortageGirl]

In response to the posts about dogs etc eating the rats and dying from it, that must either be a very small dog, or a large dog that has eaten dozens and dozens of rats. They've studied the amount of the active poison left after rats ingest it, and it's very small. The meat itself does not get affected, or so little as to be ineffectual, and the amount that may be left in the rat's digestive system is quite small .
I understand why people are reluctant to use rat poison, I share that reluctance but it IS possible to use poisons responsibly even if you have pets and children and chickens.

If you have a rat colony established in or around your coop/barn/yard, you have a real problem. If you see a few, you probably have a few hundred. They spread disease, parasites, bugs and can kill or injure chickens, young or old, and they’ll raid eggs and steal huge amounts of feed from you and your chickens.

They’re smart and tenacious and traps are not always very effective after a time because they do learn very well.

First clean your barn, eliminate all feed sources you can, clean up all stray edible things and make sure your feed is stored in rat-proof containers and even stop feeding free-choice for a time while you work to get things under control.

Get your coop as ‘rat proof’ as possible, but it’s not always possible, so just do your best. Rats can squeeze in through the most amazingly small holes so it’s very difficult, darn near impossible.

Then, go shopping for enclosed bait stations that animals other than rats cannot get into, ask at TSC or other feed and hardware stores around you… or if you can find a protected area where pets or chickens cannot get to the bait that’s fine. We had some bad problems at one time, and we built a box that locked on top, and had a hole too small any of our pets to get in, and then fastened some solid block type poison in there.

Then, get the right type of poison, there are two types, Multi-feed and Single-feed poisons.

First the multi-feed type, the main chemical in that is either warfarin or coumatetralyl. A rat must eat these types of baits over several days to become affected by them, this means that pets and wildlife are less at risk because they either have to consume a large quantity of bait in one sitting or consume small quantities of bait over quite a long period of time.

This means that even if your dog or cat does get a dead or dying rat and eat it, there is little in the stomach to hurt them, and since it’s not terribly potent and it’s only the poison in the rat’s stomach that hurts your pet, not what's already been metabolized.

Single feed poisons are MUCH stronger and act more quickly. These rat baits are more toxic to rats and pets and a single dose is more likely to cause poisoning. Single feed poisons are those containing brodifacoum (e.g.Talon) and bromadialone (e.g.Bromakil).

BOTH the single and multiple feed types are commonly available from local supermarkets and hardware stores etc. so check the ingredients. Brodifacoum is at least 40 times more potent than warfarin and is much more likely to cause the death of a rat, a pet or a wild animal with a single feed. Secondary poisoning is also more likely to occur because a rat could possibly have enough bait in its stomach to poison at least a small dog or a cat, sicken a large one.

This is why the single-feed poison which is so much stronger and kills in one shot is more dangerous. The rat or mouse usually dies with more un-digested in their stomach, and so it's available for a pet or wildlife to ingest if they eat a dead rat.

Either way, you need to be aware of your pets and control them if/when you do set out poison. Control them more carefully than usual when trying to get rid of a rat infestation, and certainly toddlers etc, but if you really have a bad enough rat infestation, poisons may be a tool to consider, just make sure you think it through. You need to put it either well down into the actual tunnels/holes or in bait stations and/or protected areas that your chickens and pets cannot get to.

Also, watch carefully for dead or dying rats and mice etc that dogs, cats or chickens can get to. Only set out poison when you are going to be home and able to keep track of things for that whole period of time, not when you are planning to be gone a lot or going away for a long weekend etc.

 

[LadyVictorian]

You can put out pans of beer. The rats love it, they can't pass gas though and they bloat to death. I don't know if it will kill a chicken. Can chicks burp/fart?

Lol I know this is old but it made me laugh, my pet rats drink a lot of beer and they also fart. Don't think this works. I have a 6 year old pet rat named Mazie who drinks beer about once a month because she's such a little alcoholic. She gets tipsy but that is about it. You would just be throwing the rats a tiny party. My rats also happily and easily fart just like any other pet, cat or dog. Not sure where this myth came from but they get stinky when you give them too many treats. Don't cuddle them after they have potato chips or you will get attacked by the stink cloud.

 

[pawl]

As much as possible deny them living space and food. Build up off the ground and use rat baffles, hang feeders as high as your chickens can reach. Seal feed in metal cans and clean up any spills. Add extra lighting and try to keep everything stored up off the ground so there is as few hiding places as possible. Koro traps are good to place along walls and other rat pathways since they work from 3 directions.