If you have rats, do you throw the eggs away?

[caspernc]

What about the poison thing. if a chicken gets a mouse that has eatten poison will they get sick. I know a chicken will eat a mouse.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Quote:
I'm not sure what you mean? I think everyone on the thread is saying to take care of the rat problem, regardless of how the eggs are handled. I don't think there's anyone saying that rats are okay in the coop, as long as you can still eat the eggs. Or are you worried about protecting the chickens from the rats while the extermination phase is going on or treating the chickens for possible infection? I'm just not sure what you mean about the well being of the chickens.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
I used to worry about that for my cats and dogs but have found they won't touch an already dead rodent or bird....animals seem to know best about these things. I'd just be vigilant each time you go to the coop or run and examine your floors. Most likely they will die elsewhere.

As for poisoned droppings...if you are using Just Onebite, I doubt if your rats/mice will be wandering around per usual dropping little rice packets. This stuff is fast! One or two days is all it takes. Until then just watch closely~ I doubt the amount in a rat turd will seriously harm a chicken.

 

[Terri O]

My vet told me that they would have to eat the actual poison. This is for cats, dogs and chickens. He said that the poison is already metabolized in the rodent's body so it wouldnt hurt anything that ate the poisoned animal. I guess once it is metabolized it ceases to be poison?

 

[Beekissed]

Well....I don't know that this is accurate. Being metabolized into the rat's body is one thing but the components that actually kill the rat would still be viable.

BROMADIOLONE ~the active ingredient in JustOnebite.

Poultry are sensitive to this rodenticide. Failure to adhere to manufacturers' recommendations or careless placement and design of traps may allow poisoning of non-target species, primary through consumption of bait and secondary through consumption of poisoned rodents.

Again...I would say just watch closely for rats or mice crawling out of the woodwork to die. Mine usually die outside and the chickens walk right by them without touching them. Neither do the dogs or cats.​

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
I'm not sure what you mean? I think everyone on the thread is saying to take care of the rat problem, regardless of how the eggs are handled. I don't think there's anyone saying that rats are okay in the coop, as long as you can still eat the eggs. Or are you worried about protecting the chickens from the rats while the extermination phase is going on or treating the chickens for possible infection? I'm just not sure what you mean about the well being of the chickens.

I would be worried about my chickens getting sick.

 

[Beekissed]

I would say there is no coop that is impervious to mouse or rat visitation, so if you think your chickens will get sick from this, you may want to pack it up and quit now. Rodents and chickens have lived together since the beginning of domestication of this bird....rodents follow grain storage and feeding and there is no way to keep this from happening.

One can only be on top of it with traps, poison or with a good rat dog or mousing cat. You can also limit the available feed in your coop by not feeding continuously but just putting out the feed your chickens will consume in one day.

 

[buckabucka]

We just did battle with some rats, or perhaps chipmunks (we never saw them, just their tunnels). They actually dug down 18 inches to get under the hardware cloth, and came up in the run. We think they are gone now, as we haven't seen a tunnel in a while now.
Here's what we did: we put a chicken-proof bait station in the run. We also threw a little bait under the coop (the chickens have no access there). And one time we threw a little bait down a particularly deep tunnel and filled it with dirt and put a cinder block on top. In addition, we took their feeder out of the run each night and locked it in the coop with them (pop doors closed). Each morning, I look around for a dead rodent before the chickens go out, but I never saw one. I don't think the rats ever got into the coop itself. The entire coop is lined with 1/4 inch hardware cloth, although I know rats are very crafty.
I would probably eat the eggs, but you are smart to go on rat patrol before it gets worse.
Good luck!

Robin

 

[BlackBart]

This is a really bad year for rats and mice.
I would try to get them under control by using bait packs.
As for the eggs, if they are just running over them, I would wash them and eat them.
I think the FDA allows a certain amount of rat hairs in some of the food you eat and we don't even know it.