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More or rat control. Reading all the comments in all the BYC threads on rats, it becomes obvious that the level of understanding of who these rats are is abysmal. Even the army video didn't do justice to level of understanding needed to take these guys on. In most cases, you are dealing with one of two types:
Brown rats or black rats......
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_rat
Known by many names, such as Norway, etc. These are the big guys who mostly live in tunnels and are probably the #1 problem for us.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_rat
AKA, roof rats, etc.
What these sources make apparent is how smart rats are.....in mammals, maybe only 2nd to man..........which makes control of them really, really tough.
Back to using modern era poisons........found a really good summary of all things rat poison here:
https://stoppestinfo.com/78-top-5-rats-and-mice-baits-feed-the-nasty-rodent-to-death.html#pets
Again, this follows and confirms that in most cases, the only way you ever rid yourself of rats is to use poison on them. It is the only way to get to near 100% eradication. All other measures are ineffective because they don't get them ALL. Single kill methods won't even scratch the surface.
So here would be the strategy.
The first step is to eliminate all food sources that have drawn them to you in the first place. Food stored in metal containers. Rat proof treadle feeders, etc.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-proof-feeder-review.1180514/
You want to starve them out of your chicken house, barns, gardens, etc. Removing water is just as important, although tougher to limit access to. Not only can they chew......they have to chew to keep their teeth sharp........so expect them to chew into and through just about anything that is not metal. Cement floors are also a good option to stop them from tunneling in from below. But staving them out so they have to seek food sources elsewhere is the first step, which leads you to step two. The replacement food they find will be poison.
With poisons, start with anticoagulant baits that are taken in over a long period of time. Several days to perhaps a week before rats start dying. If you have pets, or are concerned the birds might find the baits, use a proper bait station. (Website shows the right one. It has a bar that baits are threaded on, so nothing but rats will get to it, and which they can't drag off....all they can do is dine in....no carryout. This will probably need daily refills). If there is no concern about pets, and you want them gone in a hurry, put these baits out freely and in abundance so they will drag them back into their tunnels. Indeed....drop them in the tunnels if you can. They will eat them there and eventually they will die there.
Once it is apparent that consumption of the first wave of poisons has fallen off, time to switch to the 2nd type. The one bite poisons. Website shows which ones these are. This is necessary as not rats will take in the first type, or may have sensed trouble and avoided that type.
In conjunction with this, it may also help to use the liquid poisons at the same time. Those are NOT the same as the one bite stuff, so they are slow acting, anti-coagulant poisons. Get the proper dispenser.....do NOT use the same type of dispenser your chicks learned to drink out of. I'd put that in another type of bait station that nothing but rats and mice can get into. Something that comes to mind would be a cheap, metal mailbox, with 1 1/2" holes drilled into it. Mount it on a board and place it near their tunnels. This would be even more effective if you have taken up all water sources, so they come there to drink.
That should get you going towards a near complete control within a couple weeks.
After that, I would leave these poisons out on a continuous basis. Leave the chunks in a that bait station, and monitor it for consumption. Hopefully you will have none. If you do, start over with a vengeance.
On the topic of traps, etc. watching videos of those big wooden Victor snap traps, it becomes obvious they are useless for brown rats. They are too big for the traps. They can steal the bait without ever stepping on the trigger pad, and even if they do, half the time it only boinks them on the nose, which does nothing but teach them to stay away. What is almost falling down funny is that when it comes to rat control, Victor's own website does not even include these rat traps as a viable option. These wooden rat traps might work for the smaller black rats.
If you DO want to set traps, which may be good for monitoring activity.....and that is about all, either use one of the garbage can methods or build yourself a rat box trap and put a 55 or 110 body grip (aka conibear) trap in it. That is big enough to kill any rat going. Set these out in front of tunnel entrances, or along walls or somewhere where rats travel. Leave them out and set 24/7. In short always ready. The box will prevent harm to the good guys.....cats, dogs, etc, which a conibear would kill or do serious harm to just as easily. The good news is if you build such a trap, it can also do double duty if you ever have problems with a weasel.
But again, to rid yourself of rats completely, you are going to have to hit them hard and keep it going. No "one at a time" measures will ever work. It will take a wide spectrum approach and you will have to be vigilant about it.....probably forever.
Brown rats or black rats......
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_rat
Known by many names, such as Norway, etc. These are the big guys who mostly live in tunnels and are probably the #1 problem for us.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_rat
AKA, roof rats, etc.
What these sources make apparent is how smart rats are.....in mammals, maybe only 2nd to man..........which makes control of them really, really tough.
Back to using modern era poisons........found a really good summary of all things rat poison here:
https://stoppestinfo.com/78-top-5-rats-and-mice-baits-feed-the-nasty-rodent-to-death.html#pets
Again, this follows and confirms that in most cases, the only way you ever rid yourself of rats is to use poison on them. It is the only way to get to near 100% eradication. All other measures are ineffective because they don't get them ALL. Single kill methods won't even scratch the surface.
So here would be the strategy.
The first step is to eliminate all food sources that have drawn them to you in the first place. Food stored in metal containers. Rat proof treadle feeders, etc.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-proof-feeder-review.1180514/
You want to starve them out of your chicken house, barns, gardens, etc. Removing water is just as important, although tougher to limit access to. Not only can they chew......they have to chew to keep their teeth sharp........so expect them to chew into and through just about anything that is not metal. Cement floors are also a good option to stop them from tunneling in from below. But staving them out so they have to seek food sources elsewhere is the first step, which leads you to step two. The replacement food they find will be poison.
With poisons, start with anticoagulant baits that are taken in over a long period of time. Several days to perhaps a week before rats start dying. If you have pets, or are concerned the birds might find the baits, use a proper bait station. (Website shows the right one. It has a bar that baits are threaded on, so nothing but rats will get to it, and which they can't drag off....all they can do is dine in....no carryout. This will probably need daily refills). If there is no concern about pets, and you want them gone in a hurry, put these baits out freely and in abundance so they will drag them back into their tunnels. Indeed....drop them in the tunnels if you can. They will eat them there and eventually they will die there.
Once it is apparent that consumption of the first wave of poisons has fallen off, time to switch to the 2nd type. The one bite poisons. Website shows which ones these are. This is necessary as not rats will take in the first type, or may have sensed trouble and avoided that type.
In conjunction with this, it may also help to use the liquid poisons at the same time. Those are NOT the same as the one bite stuff, so they are slow acting, anti-coagulant poisons. Get the proper dispenser.....do NOT use the same type of dispenser your chicks learned to drink out of. I'd put that in another type of bait station that nothing but rats and mice can get into. Something that comes to mind would be a cheap, metal mailbox, with 1 1/2" holes drilled into it. Mount it on a board and place it near their tunnels. This would be even more effective if you have taken up all water sources, so they come there to drink.
That should get you going towards a near complete control within a couple weeks.
After that, I would leave these poisons out on a continuous basis. Leave the chunks in a that bait station, and monitor it for consumption. Hopefully you will have none. If you do, start over with a vengeance.
On the topic of traps, etc. watching videos of those big wooden Victor snap traps, it becomes obvious they are useless for brown rats. They are too big for the traps. They can steal the bait without ever stepping on the trigger pad, and even if they do, half the time it only boinks them on the nose, which does nothing but teach them to stay away. What is almost falling down funny is that when it comes to rat control, Victor's own website does not even include these rat traps as a viable option. These wooden rat traps might work for the smaller black rats.
If you DO want to set traps, which may be good for monitoring activity.....and that is about all, either use one of the garbage can methods or build yourself a rat box trap and put a 55 or 110 body grip (aka conibear) trap in it. That is big enough to kill any rat going. Set these out in front of tunnel entrances, or along walls or somewhere where rats travel. Leave them out and set 24/7. In short always ready. The box will prevent harm to the good guys.....cats, dogs, etc, which a conibear would kill or do serious harm to just as easily. The good news is if you build such a trap, it can also do double duty if you ever have problems with a weasel.
But again, to rid yourself of rats completely, you are going to have to hit them hard and keep it going. No "one at a time" measures will ever work. It will take a wide spectrum approach and you will have to be vigilant about it.....probably forever.
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