Rats

[FluffyChickenMama]

What about some type of pest control service?? They can put out lots of live traps and that way you can catch several in one night with no poison.. the biggest prob is Im sure its not cheap...

 

[mom'sfolly]

There is a great thread that discusses all kinds of rodent killing devices. Try running a search on rat traps. Several people had some really clever solutions. I haven't had a problem yet, but when we had construction nearby we had a household rat problem, as did most of my neighbors. We went with the pest control company. I think we have a large snake near the coop and I'm hoping that it will take care of any mice or rats.

 

[ivan3]

Our neighbor swears by a mix of 49% wheat flour/49% plaster of paris/1% sugar. Has also had luck with canned cat food soaked with anti-freeze. They have quite a bit of corn on the property so I'm guessing this must work (have never seen the results and have never used these methods myself).

I just use the big Victors (few rats we have aren't huge) tie a peanut in the shell to the trigger with dental floss. They used to manufacture a model that would break the neck of a large domestic cat, but I guess they quit. I place them under an overturned cardboard box (with a `rat' doorway cut in one end) and place it so any rat under the turkey shed will find the snack (turkey shed is up on 4"X4"'s). Pretty effective, and none of our guys can stumble across it.

 

[Jesse Frank]

I've been meaning to try this out on the ones we have on the property:

http://journeytoforever.org/at_rattrap3.html

 

[SunChick]

Try the RatZapper...they crawl into it (fits big rats) and it shocks them dead. I have it, it killed some good sized beasties and works like a charm. Here is the web site www.ratzapper.com. Hope this helps!

 

[sjcummings]

well for poisons I thought there were 2 types on the market right now. The blood thining ones that kill the rat quicker but if anything eats them they die too or the ones that make the rat quit eating The second one did not have any effect if an animal ate the rodent just on the animal that ate the poison. So the bait needed protected so only the rats can get to them. There are probably onthers but I found one here called Quintox.


http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/rodenticides.htm

 

[johnc]

Had a major problem with rats in chicken coop. IN fact I set up an infrared camera right in the coop so I could watch on a monitor in the house. I was taken back by what I saw. When the sun went down, the rats cam out. Not one, two, three, five, ten, or even 20. As my chickens went to sleep on their perch(foot and half off the ground) countless rats ran around eating their food and drinking their water right underneath them. I tried Victor traps but it was slow going. I couldn't place the traps near the chickens, so the rats never came near the traps. THey stayed near the chicken food and water. They have poor eyesight but incredibly good ears. It was facinating to watch their movements and how they responded to any noises. Some rats were huge. Bottom line, I had to set out some poison in an area that the chickens or other animals could not get to. It was right underneath the rabbit hutch which the rats also liked to visit. In fact they would crawl right into the rabbit hutch. It looks like the poison has taken care of most but most likely there are a number of babies that were born in the burrows and will be surfacing soon. I did a lot of research on rat beaviors because of this infestation and has truly enlightened me.

Good luck with your rat hunting. Hope the spring traps work. I know poison is bad stuff, but when these rats multiply and you have 50 or 60 rats leaving droppings and urinating everywhere, you'll take drastic steps.