I Hate Rats!

[goldeneggtees]

ewwww, sorry to hear about your silkies.

After hearing that story, I think I will throw some poison down the big hole they recently chewed.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i'm finding holes coming up inside another pen. i suspect there is an entire subterranean rat village under our chicken area.

 

[goldeneggtees]

I think we have the same thing going on. Sometimes I wish we could tear down the whole thing and start fresh. Using better materials that rats can't chew through. Concrete?

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i was just thinking about that. i have several kid's playhouses converted to coops. i put in wooden floors, then the whole thing sits on concrete pavers. But clearly rats can chew right through wood. Maybe if the bottom wood had sheet metal hammered into it? Or maybe the metal needs to come up the sides a bit?

That one pen where i am now seeing rat incursion is going to be a big deal to fix. Maybe i can go get the materials tomorrow then work all day on it Friday. i really need a farm hand around here!

 

[goldeneggtees]

That sounds like a good plan.

Our coop is huge and old, with many old and new holes covered in sheet metal. But most of it is old wood, and is waaay too easy for them to chew their way in.

We spent a few months filming with the Rat Busters NYC last year at my house. Believe it or not, it was filmed during a time when the rats were fairly quiet so I don't think they were able to get enough exciting footage to actually use us (which is fine by me because they make the people look really stupid). After they were done, the rats came out in droves. If I had a gun, I could have sat there picking them off one by one. They would run from under the compost pile to the feeder and back again. The compost no longer holds any food waste, we have a compost tumbler for that.

They were supposed to help with getting rid of them but they never caught one and we haven't either. The only thing which has worked was poison. Buuuut, I hate to use it for fear of other critters getting into it, especially the hens. They put down like 25 black boxes with traps inside and baited them everywhere with no luck. Then, when they left them behind, we put poison in them and were assured by a subsequent exterminator that the hens could never possibly get at the poison but guess what? I come out one day to find one of the traps on it's side and little bits of poison all over the ground next to it. I think my hens got to it. They got vit k treatments for it and luckily, all survived.

Whew! What a royal pain in the arse it's been.

 

[Impress]

Quote:
Rats can chew through concrete. They can even chew through lead pipes.

 

[goldeneggtees]

That's discouraging news. I guess there is nothing that will keep them out.

Quote:
Rats can chew through concrete. They can even chew through lead pipes.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Quote:
Rats can chew through concrete. They can even chew through lead pipes.

Wow, what's left? Titanium?

 

[Bigcreekpeafowl]

One thing they don't like chewing through is steel wool. We put that in holes and they seem to avoid it. And did not chew it.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Quote:
i've heard that. But a couple nights ago i put steel wool in the holes in the outside of that aviary they were chewing through. Next morning the steel wool was completely gone. i'm assuming they just pulled it inside. Maybe i should have glued it in place. At this point, though, that aviary is a total loss. i won't ever put birds in there again.