Rats digging under coop

[Black Feather]

That's a neat little idea. I may give it a try.

I went out and bought my first rat trap last night and set it up in the coop, just inside the outdoor run door.

So far the score is: Rat trap = 1, Rats = 0

I caught my first rat!

I think I'll get another trap and see if I can get two in one night. I set the trap up under a milk crate. The rats can get in, but cats and chickens can not. I sprinkled feed around the trap and on the trap and placed some hay over the whole thing. It seemed to work as I had one this morning.

My thought is....how smart are the rats, will the figure this out?

Cheers,
Urban Coyote

 

[bills]

When I worked on a cattle ranch, we used to put the snap type traps inside cardboard boxes. Rats love to explore dark places, and the holes in the boxes were to small for a cat or a chicken to get in to. You could place the box right in the coop, or run, for night trapping. We got two in one night using this method. Bait trap with peanut butter.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

In my opinion, forget about the traps, the poisons, the cats, and even the hardware cloth. You will just be playing cat & mouse and wearing yourself out. These are not long-term solutions.

Here is your long-term solution -- remove all the food at night.

I've been doing this for about a month, after reading it from a woman who writes for a poultry magazine. I was afraid to leave my ducks without food overnight in sub-freezing temps at first. But they are ok for overnight and have gotten used to not having food at night now. If it is particularly cold I will feed them cat kibbles or sunflower seeds first thing in the morning.

The rats have no reason to get in anymore and have given up making new tunnels.

I would be wary of trying this techinique if you have current egg-layers or young birds, as the rats might look at those as sources of alternative food.

 

[Black Feather]

DrakeMaiden;

You are right of course and this is a part of my plan. Breeding season is coming up and I will probably move all of the birds in the portion of the barn with the outdoor runs attached into the main coop. The main coop does not have any openings from the outside other than the front door, which is kept closed. This should cut down a major source of their food supply. I'll then close the doors to the outdoor runs so they can't get in at all. The turkeys and ducks will just have to learn to live inside for a while until the rat population moves out.

I first have to cut down on the number of birds I have to facilitate the move. This is one of the things preventing me from going ahead with it just yet.

Until then I will continue to trap them to cut the rat population down.

Urban Coyote

 

[edster951]

Rat problems here too....

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Sat and watched three last night.

I have four bait stations around my run

and this on thier route to it...a 45litre bucket,buried with 10litres of water in it. It's not wide enough as the rats can reach across and pull the food over. The rats are supposed to reach for the food, the food spins and they drown in the water. I need a wider bucket. Here's the link to it.

Eddie

 

[johnnyjack]

if you take away the food they will just look for it in another place. like in ur house.jmho.............johnny

 

[edster951]

Quote:
Thats right, thats why I sort of don't mind them by the coup, better there than in/under the house.

I'd be happy to kill them though by the coup.

They like to eat out of the chicken's wooden trough I made, so tomight when the chikens are locked in the coup, I'm gonna remove the food, and screw on a bait block. I'll watch out for them for an hour or so, then remove the bait if any is left and go to bed.

They're crafty things. I set a trap last night with bacon and peanut butter and they ran to it, stopped a foot short and turned away.

 

[crazy4chicsinBC]

Quote:

 

[gila_dog]

This rat discussion has made me realize that having some predators like coyotes around can be beneficial. Where we live (mountains of NM) there are no rats, skunks, or racoons. There are also no stray cats. We've lost a bunch of pet cats, tho. The coyotes used to get my chickens, but once I coyote-proofed the chicken/goat pen no more loses to predators. I would rather have coyotes around than sneaky nasty things like rats and skunks. I really like to hear them singing too.

 

[johnnyjack]

edster--- read ur bait instructions close. some of it takes more than one feeding to kill.