Help...RATS

[lilchic33]

I love my chickens but I've been seeing alotof rats now,I don't want to get rid of my chickens but I'm afraid the rats are going to get outta hand and start making next in my home. Is there something to do to get them to go away or kill them?

 

[thebanthams]

YECK! its totally up to you controlling rats, trap them or poison them. KEEP pioson out of everythings reach . Put poison under the coop if you can, really they are a pain in the butt!, If its that bad call a professional

 

[Ibicella]

The only way to control rats is diligence and being uber-cleanly.

1. Keep all feed and food products swept up and secured in galvanized containers. Don't leave food out during the night and keep the storage area very clean.

2. Keep all piles cleaned up. Wood piles, brush piles, compost piles, refuse piles, clipping piles, etc. cleaned up and especially away from home and coop.

3. Build them out. Check your home and coop for small holes and sign for wear. An adult rat can fit through a hole the size of a quarter, so these are really easy to miss. If you see a series of holes in the ground, fill them in.

4. Clear away any tall brush and trees overhanging roofs. Rats are arboreal. They will use trees and tall bushes as pathways.

5. Any signs of urine or rat feces, clean up immediately. Rats use scent marking with their urine to leave messages for the colony (we rat fanciers call this Pee-mail). Use some 409 or other strong cleaner. Destroy the trails and it disrupts their ability to find their way.

6. Use snap traps. I discourage poison because the bodies tend to get places where humans don't want their bodies rotting.

 

[Tallulah Chicklet]

I am having rat issues, too, and I'm just beside myself. I like the snap traps, I put them under milk crates in a fenced off area near the coop where my animals don't go, but I've had to release a skunk, a possum, and 2 rats that just got caught by one limb. Any ideas?

I appreciate your advice, Ibicella.

 

[De Wet]

mix poison with peanut butter or use a pile fill it with half of water it throw a little bit of sunflower seed on the top of the water. build a ramp to the top of the basket and i will guarantee you will be suprise the next morning

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I have read on here somewhere that tossing uncooked bread dough is very effective at killing the mice/rats. They cant digest it for some reason and causes intestinal failure. I would keep it away from your birds though, I don't know if they can eat it or not.

 

[seminolewind]

I'm with Ibicella. Don't leave food out. But stock in rat snap traps. Use poison if you can do it safely.
I always watch for signs. New holes, rat poop, chewing. I just bought one of those rat proof feeders to try. I have a coop and a pen that are ratproof. After 5 years, they are chewing the door frames.

My silkie coop is hardware cloth on all sides, even the ground.
But it's maintenance. Not once and you're done.

 

[bluetrain]

My rat problem has re-appeared....thought I had a handle on it....had even dug down 6-8 inches and added hardware wire all around the base to discourage....sigh.....well back to war I guess.

 

[fastrnrik]

Shoot one, but just wound it and let it run off. Don't kill it. Sounds crazy, but it works. A local corn farmer told me this years ago and I thought he was crazy. I have since done it twice, once at my dads place and then at mine when we had a rat problem and it worked.

 

[mxracer4life]

What about wounding the rat causes the problem to go away? They go back and tell there colony or what? Just curious.