Rats eatting flesh off birds.... options for stoping this?

[PeepsInc]

Quote:
That's more than big enough for a rat to go through

You need 1/4 inch hardware cloth to stop them, but the poison would be more cost effective

Can rats climb?

There's hardly anywhere a rat can't go​

Not the dead rat the cats got... I could have put a leash on it! Honestly... it was at least 4 inches wide, it's head the size of a 1 or 2 graders fist.... that particular one... it couln't ave got in the holes, no way.

I'm familiar with rats and mice... my father used to breed them, and I seemed to always have pet mice. This rat was the biggest rat I have ever seen... like the ones you here urban legends about in NYC. (only I'm in SE TN)

No, I am pretty sure it was the sag in the roof where the mesh met the solid part.....there even was a spot where the dust was wiped away in that sagging part and it was about 5 inchs wide... like the size rat taht was dead flattened out a bit to fit in.


Yes, they climb, and jump... a can chew metal and everything else. They can make a hole if they can't find one in just one night. That is why if you keep pet rats or mice or breed them... glass tanks are best. Those wire hampster cages are nothing to them... heck hampsters can get out of them!!

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Let me tell you, the NYC rats are not an Urban Legend! Try working the farmers market down there. I'de show up at 4 am to set up the stand, then try to get an hours sleep in the truck. I bet I could count 1000 rats in an hours time. Some as big as cats. As soon as the sun breaks the sky, & the people start to hit the streets, the rats all disapear.

Just because I recommended poison, The remedy if a dog or cat eats it, is hydrogen peroxide. Force feed it to an animal that has ingested the poison. It will foam up & make the animal regurgitate the poison. Do not use this method if a dog has eaten antifreeze. You need charcoal for that.

 

[halo]

I agree 1000% with the Just One Bite. Ive got dogs that my entire life depends on (I love them that much), so Im extremely concerned with using poison. By the time I saw evidence of rats, I had more infestation than I could have ever imagined. What I did was put the Just One Bite bait inside of a cage, inside of an empty dog kennel. Id put it out in the evening, and pick it up in the morning before turning the puppies out to potty. I kept doing it every night until it wasnt disappearing, which took about 2 weeks. I cant even tell you how many dead rats I was picking up during that time; had to be 100. Not to mention the ones I didnt see. Started seeing the big mommas; then the half grown ones, then the small ones. I stopped using it about a month ago, and all it well for now. I wont hesitate to put it out again if I see evidence again.

If you have seen one or two, you have 20.

 

[drdoolittle]

We used rat poison-----kind of ike halo did, and just kept our cats inside and only let the dogs out to go potty for the time the poison was out and for 2 weeks after we found the last dead rats-----worked like a charm!

 

[BarkerChickens]

Yesterday, I read in one of the sustainable living magazines (don't remember which one off the top of my head) and someone had mentioned the Bounce fabric softener sheets. This person had a huge problem with rats or mice and found that they would go away with the Bounce sheets present...and only Bounce, for some reason (no other brand).

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I've always used 1/2" x 1/2" hardware cloth to keep out rats and 1/4" x 1/4" to keep out mice. 1" is definitely too big an opening to keep out rats.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

We declared war on the rats this summer. We have a large pole barn that houses our commercial organic flock of 2500 birds. We had rats running everywhere. I'd step into the barn at night and would watch dozens of them scurry away from the feeders. I'd hear them climbing in the walls. They were digging up the foundation.

There were a few problems with the barn. There is a two foot high concrete knee wall around the barn that had some thin sections at the base and the rats managed to gnaw holes through them. Some interior door openings weren't framed out and just had old storm doors hung in the openings, allowing the rats free access into the walls and then into the attic. There was one wall where the bottom one foot of siding was rusting out for some reason.

We get a new flock each year and sell the previous year's flock, so in between flocks we did a bunch of repairs. I sealed all holes in the knee wall and foundation with hydraulic cement. We framed all door openings and hung appropriate doors. I cut open the wall that was rusting and figured out what was going on. When they poured the concrete slab for the barn the concrete didn't completely flow around the posts and left gaps. The rats had made burrows next to the posts and filled the wall a foot deep with dirt from their burrows. I cleaned out all of the dirt and sealed all the holes with hydraulic cement. The bottom gaskets on some of the overhead doors had been chewed away at the corners allowing rats in and out. I cut pieces of 2" angle iron to fit across the door opening and I lay them in front of the overhead doors when they are closed to keep the rats from chewing their way back in.

Since we are certified organic we normally don't use any of the conventional poisons, but we got permission from our certifying agency to use D-Con in between flocks. I baited heavily for a week, let them chow down on it, and then cleaned up all traces of it. For about two weeks afterward I was finding four or five dead rats a day. I haven't seen hide nor hair of any rat for about ten weeks now. Hopefully with all the work we did to exclude them, it will stay that way.

 

[tnchickenut]

Quote:
That's more than big enough for a rat to go through

You need 1/4 inch hardware cloth to stop them, but the poison would be more cost effective


There's hardly anywhere a rat can't go

Not the dead rat the cats got... I could have put a leash on it! Honestly... it was at least 4 inches wide, it's head the size of a 1 or 2 graders fist.... that particular one... it couln't ave got in the holes, no way.

I'm familiar with rats and mice... my father used to breed them, and I seemed to always have pet mice. This rat was the biggest rat I have ever seen... like the ones you here urban legends about in NYC. (only I'm in SE TN)

No, I am pretty sure it was the sag in the roof where the mesh met the solid part.....there even was a spot where the dust was wiped away in that sagging part and it was about 5 inchs wide... like the size rat taht was dead flattened out a bit to fit in.


Yes, they climb, and jump... a can chew metal and everything else. They can make a hole if they can't find one in just one night. That is why if you keep pet rats or mice or breed them... glass tanks are best. Those wire hampster cages are nothing to them... heck hampsters can get out of them!!

.................................................................................................

Let me tell you, the NYC rats are not an Urban Legend! Try working the farmers market down there. I'de show up at 4 am to set up the stand, then try to get an hours sleep in the truck. I bet I could count 1000 rats in an hours time. Some as big as cats. As soon as the sun breaks the sky, & the people start to hit the streets, the rats all disapear.

Just because I recommended poison, The remedy if a dog or cat eats it, is hydrogen peroxide. Force feed it to an animal that has ingested the poison. It will foam up & make the animal regurgitate the poison. Do not use this method if a dog has eaten antifreeze. You need charcoal for that.

I believe you after seeing this one the cats got!!!

(BTW - I got one cat - the smallest one actually - who regularly kills full grown rabbits, so at least I have one "mouser" who can be a "ratter")

 

[tnchickenut]

Quote:
honestly. Not this rat. I'll go take a nasty photo of it's rotting carcass if anyone doesn't believe me. It's in the live trap because I have something else digging up some birds I lost to Aspergillosis (I am probrably spelling it wrong again) and had burried. So far... whatever THAT is going that has set off the trap and got out. OR set off the trap from outside. ??

This rat couldn't get it's head through a 1 by 1inc hole. No way. This ain't a "fancy rat" from Petco... this is a Mexican Hairless dog.


Anyways... that's neither here nor there. I fixed up the sag and no problems last night. Set out that electric trap (which is indoor only and out under the overhang of the tractor roof) and it was empty.

If I had a life where I could go without sleep, I would say out and shoot them when they get out and roam about. Problem is, they are too smart. They know when you are out there.

 

[SilkiePuff]

I had wild rats in my coop and they ended up killing chickens, but thing to do is trap them or shoot them.. but get rid of them ASAP or they will start to steal eggs, and kill sleeping chickens.. !!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Rats can easily get through 1x1 openings. They can get through any opening larger than a nickel. Not sure what type of rats you have, but this is a useful link: https://www.maricopa.gov/EnvSvc/VectorControl/RR/RRInfo.aspx