RATS!! too smart to get caught, help!

[Fudgie]

Quote:
Dont forget the lumber yards, sometimes they have bent, warped wet boards that are perfectly good but they will toss them in the burn pile....ASK they won't give them unless you ask!

Put an ad on craigslist looking for any amounts of lumber and scraps to make a coop. You will be surprised what you get.!

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Seal as many of the holes as you can find and put a garden hose down one of them. Pack earth around the garden hose where it enters the hole. Turn the water on and walk away for an hour. You'll flood/collapse their tunnels and probably drown quite a few of them, besides.

 

[dianneS]

I had rats in the coop really badly when I first moved here. The previous owners free-fed the chickens and kept a tube feeder full all of the time. The rats loved it. The first thing I did was remove the tube feeder and only feed the chickens once a day out in their yard from the feeder. When they were done eating, I'd put the feeder away. I'd throw them scratch out in the yard during the day.

I got one of those enclosed rat poison holders, the kind you see out in the back allys behind restaurants!

When the rats started to get hungry, they started eating the poison. As long as they had access to the chicken feed they wouldn't bother with the poison, so cutting off their food supply was the best way to get them out of there! I haven't had a rat in over a year.

 

[mbrobbins]

I don't like using poison either. I had a cat (when I was a young girl)that ate a poisoned rat, and she subsequently died a slow agonizing death.I currently have a ferel cat that took up at our chicken house, so I started feeding her. I've seen her eating a rat last week. The rat population seemed to almost deminish, until we started getting cold weather, and I think the rats started moving into my inside coops. The chickens spill their feed and scratch it outside of their cages, so it is almost impossible to keep it totally cleaned up. I set two rat traps, with peanut butter,2 days ago, still no rats. I actually saw one come down from the ceiling yesterday and ran right passed the trap. I have caught a few in the bottom of a large galvanized garbage can with a little chicken scratch in the bottom. I clubbed them and threw them to the cat. Drowning rats sounds like a good idea, but if I could catch the ferel cat I would put her into the garbage can when I get the rats.I don't like using snakes, They eat your chicken eggs, and can devour your bantams too and make my chickens go into a panick mode.

 

[jhm47]

The new types of rat poison are much safer than the old ones. Saw a poison control instructor eat many pellets of "new" rat poison. Even if a cat/dog eats a dead rat, there is very little chance that it will get a lethal dose, and even if it did, a shot of vitamin "K" will counteract the effects.

 

[lilcrow]

Quote:
Here again we're talking about the action of warfarin. You must eat it on a continuous basis - as in repeatedly, over the course of a few days before it does the job, as it inhibits the bloods ability to clot. Vitamin K is the antidote for high level warfarin poisoning, if there is a concern there has been enough that it could cause internal bleeding.

 

[mikeksfarmer]

I have learned over the years that rats and mice emit a fear or danger smell when nailed by a trap. Each time I have a trap go off, either killing or maiming a rat or mouse I soak it in dish soap and water for a short period at least an hour. then I brush the trap under running water.
For Rats I use my live catch traps. I then either drown the rat or put a big paper bag on the end and open it. The rat runs into the bag and I close it so the rat is in the bag. At that moment I bring the bag to the ground, body slamming the rat killing it.
good luck.

 

[PortageGirl]

Rat Poison in the Barn

I understand why people are reluctant to use rat poison, I share that reluctance but it IS possible to use poisons responsibly even if you have pets and children and chickens. This is a somewhat canned message I have developed partially because of my research when I had a big problem, and in response to the many many times this is brought up here, so if it is a bit redundant I hope you all will make allowances for me on this topic.

In response to the posts about dogs eating the rats and dying from the poison they’ve ingested, it depends on the type of poison used, and the size of the dog. In general, it’s a very small dog, or a large dog that has eaten dozens and dozens of rats. They've studied the amount of the active poison left after rats ingest it, and it's very small. Not enough to affect dogs very much, possibly enough to affect chickens or cats depending on the type used. The meat itself does not get affected, or so little as to be ineffectual, and the amount that may be left in the rat's digestive system is usually quite small. Again, that’s depending on the type of poison which I cover more below.

If you have a rat colony established in or around your coop/barn/yard, you have a real problem. If you see a few, you probably have a few hundred. They spread disease, parasites, bugs and can kill or injure chickens, young or old, and they’ll raid eggs and steal huge amounts of feed from you and your chickens.

They’re smart and tenacious and traps are not always very effective after a time because they do learn very well.

First clean your barn, eliminate all feed sources you can, clean up all stray edible things and make sure your feed is stored in rat-proof containers and even stop feeding free-choice for a time while you work to get things under control. This makes the poison bait the best option for the rats/mice to go to.

Get your coop as ‘rat proof’ as possible, but it’s not always possible, so just do your best. Rats can squeeze in through the most amazingly small holes so it’s very difficult, darn near impossible.

Then, go shopping for enclosed bait stations that animals other than rats cannot get into, ask at TSC or other feed and hardware stores around you… or if you can find a protected area where pets or chickens cannot get to the bait that’s fine. We had some bad problems at one time, and we built a box that locked on top, and had a hole too small any of our pets to get in, and then fastened some solid block type poison in there.

Then, get the right type of poison, there are two types, Multi-feed and Single-feed poisons.

First the multi-feed type, the main chemical in that is either warfarin or coumatetralyl. A rat must eat these types of baits over several days to become affected by them, this means that pets and wildlife are less at risk because they either have to consume a large quantity of bait in one sitting or consume small quantities of bait over quite a long period of time.

This means that even if your dog or cat does get a dead or dying rat and eat it, there is little in the stomach to hurt them, and since it’s not terribly potent and it’s only the poison in the rat’s stomach that hurts your pet, not what's already been metabolized.

Single feed poisons are MUCH stronger and act more quickly. These rat baits are more toxic to rats and pets and a single dose is more likely to cause poisoning. Single feed poisons are those containing brodifacoum (e.g.Talon) and bromadialone (e.g.Bromakil).

BOTH the single and multiple feed types are commonly available from local supermarkets and hardware stores etc. so check the ingredients. Brodifacoum is at least 40 times more potent than warfarin and is much more likely to cause the death of a rat, a pet or a wild animal with a single feed. Secondary poisoning is also more likely to occur because a rat could possibly have enough bait in its stomach to poison at least a small dog or a cat, sicken a large one.
This is why the single-feed poison which is so much stronger and kills in one shot is more dangerous. The rat or mouse usually dies with more un-digested in their stomach, and so it's available for a pet or wildlife to ingest if they eat a dead rat.

Either way, you need to be aware of your pets and control them if/when you do set out poison. Control them more carefully than usual when trying to get rid of a rat infestation, and certainly toddlers etc, but if you really have a bad enough rat infestation, poisons may be a tool to consider, just make sure you think it through. You need to put it either well down into the actual tunnels/holes or in bait stations and/or protected areas that your chickens and pets cannot get to.

Also, watch carefully for dead or dying rats and mice etc that dogs, cats or chickens can get to. Only set out poison when you are going to be home and able to keep track of things for that whole period of time, not when you are planning to be gone a lot or going away for a long weekend etc.

 

[geebs]

They are allergic to peppermint oil... I suggest cotton balls with them on it... or just sprinkle the oil around... guaranteed to make them run... Plus your coup smells good.

 

[technodoll]

So we've decided to endure the situation for the winter, no matter what we do the coop will still be overrun with both rats and mice as it is 100+ years old rotten piece of crap built on sand, surrounded by junkyard (heaps of rocks, wood, building materials, cement chunks, bushes, etc) and sporting 40+ entry points dug over the years by the pests.

Next spring the whole thing is getting bulldozed to the ground, the land cleaned up and then we are building a brand new coop OFF the ground, with proper materials, ventilation, insulation and a giant secure run.

Can't wait to see the vermin run, scatter and never come back!