Rats and chicks?

[ticks]

I am moving my pheasant chicks into a larger area in the garage. It would be pretty easy for a rat to get in and do some destruction. My questions are, can a rat kill a 4 week old chick? and how can I get rid of a rat without rat traps or poison. Is there a hav-a-hart small enough?

 

[Miltonchix]

ABSOLUTELY!! I had several 6 week old chicks killed and eaten by rats. Once a chicken reaches full size its the rats that have to watch out.
But with pheasants.............why risk it?

You almost have to use poison to get rid of rats. You trap one and the rest stay away from traps. They ain't stupid. Or you sit with a .22 and target practice. Lots of time and patience.
I have a small hav-a-hart. No matter what I baited it with I could not catch a rat.

 

[warcard]

You will need to put half-inch by half-inch hardware cloth on the sides of the hav-a-heart trap. Rats can fit through the regular sides.

 

[gumpsgirl]

They sure can and the sure will. Try putting out some plaster of paris baited with canned dog food where the chicks can't get to it. The rats will eat it and once ingested, it will absorb the moisture in the rats body. Need I say more?!?! Rat problem solved!

 

[ticks]

My grandpa made a poison called "three step" the animal takes 3 steps than it dies. I might buy some rat traps today.

 

[Miltonchix]

Quote:
My small hav-a-hart has smaller openings/mesh. The problem was they wouldn't go in it. They only went after the LIVE chicks. I even tried baiting it with a 4 week old chick that had died in the brooder.

 

[LynneP]

You know, I keep reading about folks here losing birds due to lack of biosecurity and hearing about the trauma they are the survivors suffer. I can offer you only the comfort of biosecurity because rats are violent and persistent hunters of chicks, and they are not the only enemy.