Rats - Do They Eat Eggs?

[thekla]

I walked into my coop a few days ago and spotted a rat, watched where he went and got my brother to help catch and dispatch him, so, was he eating eggs? because my count was down for a few weeks and seems to be better now that he's gone. Just wondering.

 

[nzpouter]

yes they do.... and some nasty ones will kill birds too....

 

[thekla]

well this one won't be eating any more (he did bite me though) hopefully the cats will catch any others - we have lots of mice but that was the first rat I've seen - probably came up from the farm down the road.

 

[dawg53]

Where there's one rat, there's more...just like fleas, termites, cockroaches,mice etc....I hope you make a decent attempt to get rid of the mice....disease carriers. Please make sure you thoroughly cleaned and sanitized your rat bite, I hope it doesnt get infected. Good luck.

 

[EweSheep]

Yes they do and a few times they made off with banty eggs.

 

[Ibicella]

Oh yeah, they love them. Rats pretty much have the same diet requirements as humans, so eggs are definitely on the menu.

 

[thekla]

ok, thanks, and yes - I have been searching the forum for various, poison-free methods of rodent control and found a few to try, and yes, I let the finger bleed well then dosed with peroxide and anti-biotic, it's mostly healed now so, I'm good there, hopefully I will nip any rat infestation in the bud (mice in the country on-going even before the chickens and with cats, but some of the ideas on the forum look good) my egg counts are up already so I think that there are not a lot of rats (I found the nest and there was just the one.)

 

[PineappleMama]

You saw Chicken Run right?

Those buggers were so desperate for eggs they made a deal for every one that a Rooster laid.

 

[Lofty Dreams]

My cat Pumpkin takes care of the mice and rats.
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