Help me get rid of my nightly visitors!!!!!

[Grannysfuturefarm]

I am at my wits end. We tried to figure out what was getting into the chicken run and coops. Bought a trail cam and it’s rats!!!! And OMG there are quite a few!! Please tell me there is hope to get rid of them. The neighbors cats are trying but I think there’s too many. I know the exterminator is gonna cost me a fortune. Any suggestions to try first? You cannot imagine the horrible painful death I’m wishing on every one of them

 

[bobbi-j]

Poison. Put it in some sort of bait box that nothing else can get into. We have a wooden box with a small hole in the end that we put the bait under, and weight it down with a rock. Rats are the only thing that can get into the bait. We have never seen dead or dying rats, nor have I ever had a chicken, cat or dog kill or eat a poisoned rat.

 

[Amylynn007]

Do you have a picture of your current coop/run setup? Rats can fit into holes the size of a quarter. We have 1/2" hardware cloth around our whole run and we skirted it out on the ground a couple of feet so they can't dig under, either

 

[Grannysfuturefarm]

Poison. Put it in some sort of bait box that nothing else can get into. We have a wooden box with a small hole in the end that we put the bait under, and weight it down with a rock. Rats are the only thing that can get into the bait. We have never seen dead or dying rats, nor have I ever had a chicken, cat or dog kill or eat a poisoned rat.

Thank you so much. I was afraid of going that route because I could never forgive myself if I accidentally killed one of my babies. (Yes I know they’re supposed to be farm animals, but they are really more my feathered kids than anything else!!)i think I am off to tractor supply to get some rat killer!! Wish me luck

 

[Miniflock]

I am at my wits end. We tried to figure out what was getting into the chicken run and coops. Bought a trail cam and it’s rats!!!! And OMG there are quite a few!! Please tell me there is hope to get rid of them. The neighbors cats are trying but I think there’s too many. I know the exterminator is gonna cost me a fortune. Any suggestions to try first? You cannot imagine the horrible painful death I’m wishing on every one of them

I wouldn't poison because other animals/chickens could be harmed.
We had a rat we couldn't get rid of trying various traps. We finally got a live trap at TSC and it worked like a charm. Just be sure to take the rats at least 2 miles away or they will come right back.

 

[Grannysfuturefarm]

Do you have a picture of your current coop/run setup? Rats can fit into holes the size of a quarter. We have 1/2" hardware cloth around our whole run and we skirted it out on the ground a couple of feet so they can't dig under, either

I don’t have pictures right now. I could take some later (it’s roughly 108 degrees here today!!!) we haven’t placed the wire down very far. But the rats are digging tunnels and the piles of dirt they are pushing up is about a foot or more deep in places!!! And they are tunneling from all the way across the back yard (several hundred feet). I’ve tried everything from putting ammonia into the tunnels, moth balls, gopher gassers. You name it I’ve tried it. The last 2 weeks I’m completely worn out. I find more holes where they tunnel out or in. And they tear up my fencing. We have an old dog out back but he’s completely blind and bless his poor old heart, he tries to find them when he can. Every day I’m coming in from outside in tears because I don’t know what to do. I even told my husband we need to sit out there as still as possible and pick them off one at a time with a firearm.

 

[3KillerBs]

Every day I’m coming in from outside in tears because I don’t know what to do. I even told my husband we need to sit out there as still as possible and pick them off one at a time with a firearm.

What kind of traps have you tried? I didn't have chickens of my own when we lived near a commercial chicken house, but I did have the rats. Nothing we tried ever worked better than old-fashioned snap traps.

What's your soil like? Can you dig down a full foot -- below the lowest tunnel -- to put in 1/2" hardware cloth?

Can you get all feed secured in rat-proof metal cans and bring feeders in at night?

Just be sure to take the rats at least 2 miles away or they will come right back.

If you don't own the property you have no right to dump a pest animal on it. It's highly unethical to give your problem to someone else.

 

[bobbi-j]

I don’t have pictures right now. I could take some later (it’s roughly 108 degrees here today!!!) we haven’t placed the wire down very far. But the rats are digging tunnels and the piles of dirt they are pushing up is about a foot or more deep in places!!! And they are tunneling from all the way across the back yard (several hundred feet). I’ve tried everything from putting ammonia into the tunnels, moth balls, gopher gassers. You name it I’ve tried it. The last 2 weeks I’m completely worn out. I find more holes where they tunnel out or in. And they tear up my fencing. We have an old dog out back but he’s completely blind and bless his poor old heart, he tries to find them when he can. Every day I’m coming in from outside in tears because I don’t know what to do. I even told my husband we need to sit out there as still as possible and pick them off one at a time with a firearm.

I put my bait box right over the tunnel hole and put the bait around the hole (DH made ours. Just an open topped wooden box). Put out plenty of bait and check it daily, refilling as needed. It could take weeks before the bait stops disappearing.

 

[Miniflock]

What kind of traps have you tried? I didn't have chickens of my own when we lived near a commercial chicken house, but I did have the rats. Nothing we tried ever worked better than old-fashioned snap traps.

What's your soil like? Can you dig down a full foot -- below the lowest tunnel -- to put in 1/2" hardware cloth?

Can you get all feed secured in rat-proof metal cans and bring feeders in at night?



If you don't own the property you have no right to dump a pest animal on it. It's highly unethical to give your problem to someone else.

my hubby dumped in a big hydro field down the road. No other homes nearby. Otherwise he would have just killed them after trapping.

 

[3KillerBs]

my hubby dumped in a big hydro field down the road. No other homes nearby. Otherwise he would have just killed them after trapping.

It's still not your property so you have no right to dump animals there.

Killing them is the correct thing to do with vermin.