i somehow acquired 2 runaways and i have questions. please help

[pollipazzi]

I don’t want my chickens to eat rat. Bc rats are known to spread diseases. My chickens are scavengers and have access to the rat if its on the lawn. Im not sure if they would eat rat but i thought it was wiser not to try. Besides I don’t want a dead rat laying on my lawn anyway .

Chances that they are poisoned are very small bc its not allowed to poison rats in my country (except for people who have a permit). Rat poison is not for sale in our shops. Only can be bought by illegal online order.

Edited typo’s

that's a good thing that rat poison is not for sale there. it seems to be the first thing people turn to here. please say roundup isn't sold in shops too!
i wish they would ban it here. i hate it a lot.

 

[pollipazzi]

the feeder opened!

 

[pollipazzi]

and no mouse last night!
the toes are safe!

 

[BDutch]

that's a good thing that rat poison is not for sale there. it seems to be the first thing people turn to here. please say roundup isn't sold in shops too!
i wish they would ban it here. i hate it a lot.

The authorities figured out that rat poisons do more harm than good. It kills the scavengers and predators too. So if the rats are gone bc of the poison, there are no natural enemies anymore either. And because some rats don’t respond to the poison anymore, they come back and multiply fast with very little predators to keep a status quo.

Unfortunately we can buy as much Round up as we like. The Bayer company is spending a fortune obtaining false research results for decades. The Dutch socialist parties are waiting for better EU laws. The fascist parties are helping the wrong farmers. And the democrats and Christian parties don’t seem to care much.
In the meantime, the Bayer lobby bribes politicians in the EU governments to postpone better laws on the use of horrible poisons.

 

[pollipazzi]

The authorities figured out that rat poisons do more harm than good. It kills the scavengers and predators too. So if the rats are gone bc of the poison, there are no natural enemies anymore either. And because some rats don’t respond to the poison anymore, they come back and multiply fast with very little predators to keep a status quo.

Unfortunately we can buy as much Round up as we like. The Bayer company is spending a fortune obtaining false research results for decades. The Dutch socialist parties are waiting for better EU laws. The fascist parties are helping the wrong farmers. And the democrats and Christian parties don’t seem to care much.
In the meantime, the Bayer lobby bribes politicians in the EU governments to postpone better laws on the use of horrible poisons.

i don't know if people just don't know how bad it is and use it because it's easy? maybe more awareness would deter people from using it?
my one neighbour's back garden is all stones. maybe 7 weeds grow through. instead of just pulling them out, he sprays. i can't cope with that.

 

[BDutch]

Many people in the Netherlands do about the same with stones/pavement. Im not sure if many use Roundup. The flowers and plants in the gardening centres have enough poisons on them to kill the insects already.

Gardens exit. The soil is often filled with tiles to make a huge terrace. Some people even buy a plastic lawn.

The past years there were many actions to persuade people to take out many tiles and to make their ‘gardens’ insect and hedgehog friendly without poisons and with bee friendly plants.

 

[pollipazzi]

i plant borage, oregano, and thyme, and the flowers are always covered with bees in case anybody reading wants to plant bee things
the chickens like them too. they eat the borage seeds.

 

[pollipazzi]

also.
no mouse and feeder opened

 

[alinas2010]

i plant borage, oregano, and thyme, and the flowers are always covered with bees in case anybody reading wants to plant bee things
the chickens like them too. they eat the borage seeds.

Do you use the borage for anything? I’ve never tried any, I’m curious about it. Thinking of ideas for next years garden. You’ve already turned me into a maniac for leeks

 

[pollipazzi]

Do you use the borage for anything? I’ve never tried any, I’m curious about it. Thinking of ideas for next years garden. You’ve already turned me into a maniac for leeks

no. not really.
i tasted the flowers just to see what it was like and it's sort of cucumberyish.
i planted it one year for the bees i think. it drops its seeds and grows all around. so they are back every year. it gets a little unruly, but the bees really love it. i just pull out the little plants where i don't want them to grow.
i remember using the flowers to decorate a cheese board for some dinner i had or something. it looked pretty on the board.
my friend makes tea with the flowers. i have never tried that. i'm more of a coffee person.