Please Help!! Rats have taken too many victims *Graphic Description*

[eggsrcool]

Since September we have lost 15 quail, and 1 chick to rats. I hate the creatures, I despise them! We have done just about everything we can to prevent them from killing or injuring anymore of our livestock, but it isn't good enough! I started off with 24 quail, and now we have 9!

I went down just a few minutes ago, and guess what?! A freakin' rat had caught a quail and bitten its head off! No head in sight! We have put down poison (chicken, chick and quail proof) and no rat caught! We've tried drowning them out, no use! Please help, I dont want to end up with no quail- I've raised all of them myself, from hatching until now. Please help!!

eggsrcool

 

[wyliefarms]

Sorry for your loss! Are you sure it is a rat? We have caught one rat in a live trap. Maybe you could try that. Good luck

 

[chickeydee]

Have you tried putting rat bait all around the coop ? They have it in theses little bags and the rats eat it .

 

[eggsrcool]

We have poison in chicken proof traps, and none have been caught. We are 100% certain its rats, we can see their holes and even have seen them underneath the runs.

 

[joyous]

How about an electronic rat trap bated with dog food. We use an electronic mouse trap and it is wonderful, zap they are dead, dump them out and reset it. 50 kills on one set of batteries! , little more expensive to start with, but they last forever! We also trapped rats with a live trap and bated it with dog food! they love it!

 

[eggsrcool]

Ill have a look for those, but I've never seen them. Thanks for the suggestion

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

No one should underestimate the damage rats can do, as your situation is evidence of.

Best of luck getting rid of those vermin.

 

[Cetawin]

Here is a trick that might work, depending on how your cages are set up. If it is up off the ground, put the bait/poison underneath....take rat poison and mix it with yogurt and set it out. They love yogurt. But make sure nothing else can get to it like a dog, cat or bird. Good luck with them but rats, even pet rats, will kill birds.

 

[schellie69]

Unfortunately rats are very smart, they know how to avoid most traps, and if the birds are there I am sure they will go after the birds instead of the rat poison, I would bait a trap with some kind of food that is more attractive then the birds, I have a rat as a pet (please don't hate me) and she is very smart, and my hubby had a pet rat when he was a kid that would fetch a tennis ball so they do learn and remember things if they have saw another rat get caught in a trap they usually remember that, I think putting a live trap out with some goodies in it might be your best bet but make sure it does not look like a trap good luck hope you get the rats soon

 

[eggsrcool]

I am thinking of raising the run up- I think it would stop them completely.

And I have nothing against pet rats, just the wild rats that kill my birds