Help With Rats

[kingmt]

I'm not sure if I said this earlier but these are chicks " large but young ducks. The poison no longer works because they have learnt it kills them & move it back out side where my chickens are at. They have started covering there holes back up like they are hideing they. I am concidering the plaster of paris thing but I'm afraid the chicks will get to it.


I dug up a lot of there barrows today & didn't find them but did find about 50 of the birds they killed.

I never thought a rat was very smart but these things seem to always get one up on me.

 

[jjthink]

Horrible situation. 50 birds

It's just too awful. I know you are very troubled about this also.
Honestly, if it were me I'd give my birds to a good home before I would let another one get injured or killed. Then I would make the coop pred proof before I ever put another bird in there. The situation is just out of control and I only see more horror coming. I'm sorry.
JJ

 

[gamebirdfarmer]

i have a little bit of a rat problem my self but never had a problem with them killing poultry bigger than them selves. just baby chicks or duckling and they like eggs too

 

[Stonerowfarm]

I was thinking this over and over and over. The only losses I've had to rats were my banties, silkies and frizzles. Birds who don't normally roost at night. Are you totally sure it's rats and not something else getting your birds? Especially to take 50 of them. Seems like it might be some other burrowing animal that might be doing the damage. In my case the rats ate the birds right there in the coop and didn't drag them anywhere. They were unable to as the banties are twice the size of the rats.

Just a thought.

 

[chickerdoodle]

Can you put cement pavers on the floor of the coop? You first put 1/2' or 1/4" hardware cloth down on the entire dirt floor and cover with cement pavers. You'll need to tack down the hardware cloth first onto the sides of the coop. Quickest thing I can think of to keep them safe while you reinforce the rest of the coop. Use whatever bedding on top of the pavers you want.

 

[bobbi-j]

Some friends of ours had a serious rat problem. They mixed Sackcrete with chicken feed and put it in under their coop for the rats to eat. The rats cleaned it up every night, and then started dying. The rest moved on. You'd have to put it where the chickens couldn't get it, of course. Good luck!

 

[jackiesmamachick]

I did do poison once but they opened the bag and draged some into coop and geese ate some pellets cost $100 in tablets to treat geese. Plus you have to worry if your cats eat the rats that have been poisoned. I found put small 2 gallon bucket with water and in the last week I have found 20 young rats drowned . Quicker & safer

 

[smchickfarm]

flybait and regular can of coke. You mix the flybait with the coke in a tin pieplate and leave it. it is really sweet and as soon as they drink they die on the spot. (it really is that fast)

It is extremely poisonious, so you have to make sure that other animals/pets, kids, etc can't get to it. It does work.

 

[PhilErvin]

Quote:
The Plaster of Paris turns solid in the rats intestin and everything backs up.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
The Plaster of Paris turns solid in the rats intestin and everything backs up.

When I tried the plaster of paris method all it did was make them poop white turds.