Rats, rats EVERYWHERE! ☹️

[HuffleClaw]

Good night all and thanks for the help/advice.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Good luck! Don't forget to get the boxes for the bait so the chickens can't get at it!

 

[HuffleClaw]

Good luck! Don't forget to get the boxes for the bait so the chickens can't get at it!

I almost did.

 

[The Kooky Kiwi]

We get bush rats here (native bush close by plus plenty of farming sheds and equipment for them to get into) - it's an ongoing management thing. My anti vermin program is as follows:

In my chicken runs I use treadle feeders for the pellets and feed only enough kitchen scraps that will get eaten that day.

Just outside my runs I place bait stations like the one in my picture below - yes they use poison but yes they are very effective and they are contained in a station that only the target vermin can enter (so safe to use around other animals and wildlife). The poison comes as very firm blocks which are threaded into the station with rods so the rat can only take what he is willing and able to chew off.

I have three cats, all of which will kill mice and rats, and the wild weka regularly kill and eat mice and small rats too (although they then in turn become a problem themselves because they also will predate on chicks and steal eggs/food).

You will never be entirely rid of the vermin - When you kill one another moves in - But I find the combination of methods above keeps them to a minimum.

If you have quite a population already that needs to be reduced first - the use of poison could get prohibitively expensive - so I'd recommend one of those units that live catches / traps the rats. This can be reset and used over and over, and some can catch multiple rats at a time. They can be very very effective if checked/reset regularly. A possible issue - These units require the user to be able to "dispatch" with what they catch and that is not for everyone.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I used buckets with lids. Drilled holes just big enough for the rats to get in and drilled them up the bucket a ways.
I have a barn with pens so mine weren't were the chickens could get to them.

 

[jeanette bettis]

This all started last year when my neighbor unloaded some rat-infested materials. They quickly came up to my house. Plentiful food supply, right? Well. I cant take it anymore. There’s stupid rats EVERYWHERE by my chicken pens. And I can’t use poison and no amount of traps would ever get all those dang mice.

Do I rehome my flock and start anew later?? It seems the rat population keeps growing and growing. My feed bill is sky high because I’m feeding more rats than chickens. It’s to the point where my chickens are absolutely starving if not fed twice daily.

If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know.

Get yourself a couple of kitties. That should keep the numbers down. And they potty train themselves unlike dogs. HEHE

 

[MGG]

Yes, I loved that trap too! Only issue is finding out what to do with the live rats after they are caught, but that is the least of your problems.

I filled a sled with water, and dropped in the trap. Voila. Rats don't have gills.

 

[Weeg]

I filled a sled with water, and dropped in the trap. Voila. Rats don't have gills.

Good idea! They still went in the traps? That is a good idea!

 

[HuffleClaw]

I used buckets with lids. Drilled holes just big enough for the rats to get in and drilled them up the bucket a ways.
I have a barn with pens so mine weren't were the chickens could get to them.

Okay thank you!

 

[HuffleClaw]

Get yourself a couple of kitties. That should keep the numbers down. And they potty train themselves unlike dogs. HEHE

I already have 4 cats.