Rats and roaches

[That chicken guy]

Hi. I've been a long term reader here and chicken enthusiast. Circumstances caused me to need to rehome my chickens and I dearly miss them. When I had them though I had many more rats and roaches and began working on ways to control this problem. I've come up with a few semi simple designs for controlling infestations of each. It was a pretty big issue for me, so I'm not sure whether or not anyone else would be interested in this the same way I was. I was writing this post to see if people thought these are worth pursuing as products to sell or sell plans for. I wasn't sure if there would be any market for them. The best parts are that they're poison and chemical free, and the chickens get to eat the roaches. Any thoughts appreciated. Thank you

 

[boskelli1571]

Hi. I've been a long term reader here and chicken enthusiast. Circumstances caused me to need to rehome my chickens and I dearly miss them. When I had them though I had many more rats and roaches and began working on ways to control this problem. I've come up with a few semi simple designs for controlling infestations of each. It was a pretty big issue for me, so I'm not sure whether or not anyone else would be interested in this the same way I was. I was writing this post to see if people thought these are worth pursuing as products to sell or sell plans for. I wasn't sure if there would be any market for them. The best parts are that they're poison and chemical free, and the chickens get to eat the roaches. Any thoughts appreciated. Thank you

It's always good to share ideas so you can get input from others. If you are thinking of selling the product, simply put a patent/copyright on it. Not sure how that is done but I'm sure Google will tell you

 

[cmom]

It would be interesting. I have tried many different thing. I had a coop that was infested with rats. I did renovate the coop and pulled out a lot of rat nest materials and while in the process, dozens of rats came out of all sizes. I tried traps, the bucket and I found tunnels in the ground around the coop. I had also seen some rats in our barn which is behind our coops. I put poison rat baits in rat bait boxes so the only thing able to get to the bait was the mice and rats. I didn't find any dead rats laying around from the poisen so I'm assuming they went down into their tunnels and died. The bait boxes I use have a little window above the bait so I can check it daily. They haven't been touched now for quite awhile. I had a possum destroy some bait boxes. After some research I found that possums are immune to rat poison. Now I have made some mini cages with wire that only a rat or mice can get into to get to the bait. The possums haven't been able to get to it now. Most people who have poultry will at one time or another have rats. Good luck...

 

[That chicken guy]

Once I get a website set up and everything ill make a post here and get the word out. Its hard to know whether or not I could produce these economically enough but it might be worth a try. My chickens always loved eating live insects so I imagine it could be worth it for some people to purchase or build.

 

[boskelli1571]

Once I get a website set up and everything ill make a post here and get the word out. Its hard to know whether or not I could produce these economically enough but it might be worth a try. My chickens always loved eating live insects so I imagine it could be worth it for some people to purchase or build.

Making use of pests as chicken food is an excellent idea. Someone here is testing out Japanese beetles as a viable source of nutrition....

 

[That chicken guy]

Thank you. I thought so too. Raising them is definitely a viable option, but you'll be attracting them anyway by having chickens so I thought it might be worth building a tool for.

 

[Cjrolland]

It would be interesting. I have tried many different thing. I had a coop that was infested with rats. I did renovate the coop and pulled out a lot of rat nest materials and while in the process, dozens of rats came out of all sizes. I tried traps, the bucket and I found tunnels in the ground around the coop. I had also seen some rats in our barn which is behind our coops. I put poison rat baits in rat bait boxes so the only thing able to get to the bait was the mice and rats. I didn't find any dead rats laying around from the poisen so I'm assuming they went down into their tunnels and died. The bait boxes I use have a little window above the bait so I can check it daily. They haven't been touched now for quite awhile. I had a possum destroy some bait boxes. After some research I found that possums are immune to rat poison. Now I have made some mini cages with wire that only a rat or mice can get into to get to the bait. The possums haven't been able to get to it now. Most people who have poultry will at one time or another have rats. Good luck...

 

[Cjrolland]

Please please please try not to use poison!! The affects it has on other animals down the line is terrible! Raptors or scavengers or even your own cat could die from eating a poisoned animal. I'm not a big bleeding heart and definitely not preachy but this one i believe in. I have a small coop with 5 chickens and my next door neighbors have about 15 between them. I am in the country, sort of, and rats are a definite issue. I have found that the "Tomcat" jaw traps with a Kit Kat bar for bait slay the little punks. I got 7 in two nights. Rats are a constant problem with chicken feed around, especially in winter when food is scarce. Please try other methods than poison!!

 

[That chicken guy]

Yes I agree with that.

 

[cmom]

We have several acres on a dead end road. Some times we get other people's catch and releases. I haven't found any dead rats. If they do get the poison I believe they go down into their tunnels and die, because otherwise I should be finding them. I don't believe any predators are eating them. I haven't found any dead predators either. It's my personal choice. I wouldn't mind finding a few dead coyotes. We have a lot of them. Nothing here preys on coyotes but they will prey on everything else including fox and bobcats if they catch them. I have several game cameras on my property and most nights see a predator, usually a coyote or two, on one of the cameras. I have hundreds of pictures/videos.