Neighbor released feeder rats!!!!

[Birdinhand]

wow, that is kind of mind blowing, WTH were they thinking, isn't releasing domesticated animals into the wild illegal? anyway, I take rats very seriously, I pretty much always have traps out for them. I would recommend buying 10 snap traps and using them like snares, placing them anywhere you think they might run out in the open, usually along fence lines. look for tell tail signs of where they run. they are creatures of habit and when they get out in the open they run for their dear life to avoid predation and that is where they are most likely to run right across a snap trap and get caught. periodically I put food in the traps when it seems they have been there long enough to blend into the scenery but aren't catching anything. also, eliminate night time sources of open food, take up chicken feed at night and store everything in metal containers. good luck, be persistent, get a handle on them before they breed!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That is exactly my fear of poisons. I do not wish to harm my dogs or anything but the rats.
That being said... There is a hole that it dug to get inside the baby run. It came under the walk in coop and popped up IN the run. I can keep the chicks inside the coop while glue traps are in the run. I am not worried about anything other then the rat getting stuck.

Poisons freak me out because of the secondary poisoning risk.

I totally understand your fear of poisons. We have had to use them every single fall when the rats start tunneling into my shed for the winter. They can quickly destroy everything and can tunnel under anything. We use the big black bait box. Rats have to go inside to eat it, and can't drag the poison out and about like the bagged stuff. They usually die in their tunnels. I have only found one outside in the 10 years we have been putting it out. I risk it because we would be overrun with rats otherwise. Traps do not work here. Wisconsin rats are smart, they have to be to survive our winters. It may be your only option after all others have been exhausted.

I'm not saying use poison because I don't want to be held responsible for any problems that might occur. I am saying we have used it quite effectively and no one else has died because of it, except for that chipmunk that must of had some for itself. Now those we can catch with rat traps in buckets.

I'm hoping you get them dirty buggers before they undermine your whole coop.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Chicken feeders go in heavy metal trash cans inside the coop at night.

I am heading to the farm store to see what they have for such issues.
I needed some stuff from there anyway.

I am not wanting to find my coop leaning due to extreme tunneling!

For anyone wondering about the bantam that took a peck.... She is a 7 year old Cochin, just finished raising chicks and had been intermingling with the big birds for four or five days. She is back to laying and probably got nailed in the nest. Not something my birds usually do. She had been head hen for at least 5 years. Looks like that has changed. She is segregated with her chicks and will not be back in with the big birds.
Blood was drawn so I am off to get some blu-kote.

 

[Luffa]

Chicken feeders go in heavy metal trash cans inside the coop at night.

I am heading to the farm store to see what they have for such issues.
I needed some stuff from there anyway.

I am not wanting to find my coop leaning due to extreme tunneling!

For anyone wondering about the bantam that took a peck.... She is a 7 year old Cochin, just finished raising chicks and had been intermingling with the big birds for four or five days. She is back to laying and probably got nailed in the nest. Not something my birds usually do. She had been head hen for at least 5 years. Looks like that has changed. She is segregated with her chicks and will not be back in with the big birds.
Blood was drawn so I am off to get some blu-kote.

What kind of critter was it that the irresponsible neighbors were feeding the rats to? Maybe you should get one of them.

 

[Luffa]

Also I've heard that there are people who "rent out" Rat Dogs for extermination purposes. The dogs are very happy doing this. A friend of ours had (of all things) a Newfoundland who hated rats and loved killing them. She was quite successful. Another friend has Schnauzers who compete in Barn Dog trials. Maybe there's a local group to you that would be willing to let their dogs practice on your rats?

 

[Hybridchucks]

Nice neighbours.

 

[Hybridchucks]

 

[21hens-incharge]

The critter they were feeding the rat babies to was a lizard of some sort.

I found a product called kaput. It is an anticoagulant and my large dogs would have to consume more then the bucket has in it to die.....or so I was told.
The active ingredient is warfarin. According to the manufacturer a 50 pound dog would have to consume 7 pounds of bait to be in danger. The expensive bucket is 4 pounds and has 64 bait blocks in it. Vitamin k is the antidote and the poison begins to break down in the deceased in 48 hours.

I am OK with using it knowing that the risk is not as great as with other products.

Why did I buy so much?? It is not sold in smaller packages due to EPA regulations.
I guess the EPA decided we cannot buy just small packets.




I will update with results of course.

Including a link in case others want to have a look.

http://www.kaputproducts.com/faq/

http://www.kaputproducts.com/solutions-by-pest-type/rat/

 

[jeria]

Good Luck, I had an invasion of mice and would not use poisons due to all above reasons. Nothing was working even if I kept trapping the mice they kept coming. Adopted a kitten, didn't take long, no more mice.

 

[firestomp]

this is a good point that i didn't think of as an option, I have 2 hunting cats and my 3 legged, de-clawed male feral even took out a ground rat that had set up shop under the coop and had tunnel openings in several places. He was proud of that catch. The rat was very muscular sleek brown coat, not like sewer rats. They both catch mice and birds. The other is a feral bingle has no caws also had been dumped or left. Check to see if you have a program facility that takes ferals, spay/neuter them, all shots, and flea treatment. our in Indianapolis is called FACE. call your animal control, they should have the number. An abandoned animal is a great hunter as it needed to to survive. The kittens are nearly wild al together. Pen them up a few days, feed them, then turn them out. I haven't had one leave yet, and have even gotten one wild female to eat from my hand and i could hold her like a baby and she would suck on my finger. I was told it would never happen, but months of patience and it did.