RATS!!

[conroy]

We had a big rat problem a couple years ago when a farm down the street was sold to a contracter. We have 3 cats and 4 dogs but it didn't deter the rats, turns out they love eating poo. Anyway, I went to Agway and bought some fox urine (and left scent darts around my house and yard. Then we did put some poison deep into their holes. The problem was cleared up in less than a week and so far so good they haven't been back. BUT I have heard some foxes in the early mornin' hours....

 

[Dar]

please be very careful using poison...

if a family pet starts to play or eat the rat once it has eaten poison the family pet can die too of a secondary poisoning..

try to stick to the snap type traps or glue type traps.....

remember do not keep feed in the coop (i remove mine at night to make it less of a buffett at night..I bring it back out with me in the morning when i let them out)

moth balls can work too as well as a radio in the coop

we have this stuff in canada called critter ridder...it is a pepper based product that helps keep critters away (it works on skunks, coons, dogs, cats...and many more and it is not eaten by the animal so there is no chance of a secondary poisoning)

 

[92caddy]

We had a rat problem a few years ago and they got soo bad they started to kill the pigeons and then they moved onto pigeon sized chicks. The cats wouldnt kill em and we trapped about 40 rats, but we ended up putting poison out to get rid of them. We never did get rid of them, got them down to where they werent killing the birds. We have to bait with pioson every now and then to keep them under control. Good luck...........

 

[Bassleg]

FYI moth balls are for keeping snake away.

 

[velo99]

CM
Put a sticky trap in a shoebox, with a hole in the end not the side. Tie tape or rubber band it shut. Put it inline in a corner with the hole facing a long wall. Mice and rats love exploring dark hideyholes. Might take a day or two,but you`ll catch em. If they get slow going in,take the trap out and put a little dab of peanutbutter in it for a couple of days then put the trap in with a dot of peanut butter in the middle.

g/l

v99

 

[velo99]

please be very careful using poison...

if a family pet starts to play or eat the rat once it has eaten poison the family pet can die too of a secondary poisoning..

try to stick to the snap type traps or glue type traps.....

remember do not keep feed in the coop (i remove mine at night to make it less of a buffett at night..I bring it back out with me in the morning when i let them out)

moth balls can work too as well as a radio in the coop

Quote:
Human urine applied with a spraybottle works too.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Thanks for all the ideas ya'll. We closed off a nest box that was on the floor where there was a hole dug and put some posion in that. It was gone this am. We also put the run part of a rabbit hutch in another corner over an even bigger hole and put posion in that one. It was gone this am too. Hubby refilled both of them this afternoon. None of my birds nor pets can get to the poison.

I hoped my cats could take care of the problem but they are 15 years old and just not up to the task. My dog just goes into the coop and eats chicken poop!

Guess this is one of the trade offs to living out in the woods. Not only do you get to have chickens, you get all the critters that come out of the woods as well!

 

[cmom]

Quote:
I agree, Decon!!! If there is a place that the chickens can't get to, I'd put some Decon there.

 

[cmom]

When the Rats eat the Decon they then go looking for water. They drink and the poison kills them. I think Rats can multiply almost as fast a Rabbits.