Rats

[clifford258]

I know there is a lot of forums about rats. But I am seriously having time with these things. I have put out all brands of poison sold on the market. Have used every trap even 75 dollar electronic traps. Nothing is working I do manage to pick a couple off with a pellet rifle here and there but nothing that is stop them. Understand when I say there is absolutely no feed. around for them to eat I throw a scoop out and what the chickens don't eat I sweep up. They are not getting in the storage shed and getting feed I know because I have set up cameras on each bin and cautiously watched for hole of bottom entry. Nothing never even seen them running on the floor even covered the floor with flour to track footprints again no traces and feed is not disappearing. There is no houses within 3 acres around us. We go hourly when home to gather eggs so I know they are not eating the eggs and not eggs the chickens. I can set out a pile of sunflower seeds and shoot a couple with pellet gun but that is the best that has been done thus far. any suggestion would be helpful

 

[garryc]

Wow I am really sorry to hear that you have an issue with rats. That is terrible! From what I was reading just a few mins prior to replying is that if you see rats during the day then there is likely a bunch of them because they are typically only active during night. I also read that a female can produce up to twelve litters of twenty rats a year. I don't know if there's a way to tell the difference between male and females; however, I think what I would do if I were faced with the same situation would be to start shooting them with that pellet rifle at night using some kind of night-vision scope. And if there's a way to identity the females ones; I'd take priority on shooting them.

 

[clifford258]

Thank you for the reply. I haven't seen any during the day. I usually use a little pile of sunflower seeds to bring them out to then using a red light to see them I shoot them with a pellet rifle. However I don't think this will be a good method being the female are sexullay mature a about 2 months old. And can have 14 babies every 21 days...... Im just sick about it. I reckon its time to call an exterminator.

 

[DoubletakeFarm]

Rats are either really smart or really cautious, which is why it is so hard to trap them. I had one rat (just one!) and also tried everything to get rid of it. It took me months to get that sob. Never did get it in a trap. What finally happened was it fell in a kiddie pool I had for my geese and it drowned.

So try that: put away all water supply and put a bucket trap out for the rats with water in it. You can google it, I'm sure there's different techniques.

Good luck!

 

[tinalupan]

I use glycol mix to potted meat in cans you can buy at a dollar store. Be sure it's mixed well and leave on the ground. No chicken running range free and you will see a reduction or zero rat or mouse in your area. Or throw cayenne pepper grounds on the area, spread it around. You will definitely see a minimal activity from the pests. Even coons would not come at your place. I even mix in MSG with Glycol with potted meat.

 

[clifford258]

What does the glycol do?

 

[Big Bubba]

I know you say there is absolutely no food for them, but there has to be some somewhere. Every critter needs to eat. Perhaps you were previously leaving out chicken feed which attracted them originally and these are just the ones left over?

I had rats, lots of them. It was my bad practices that created this mess. After I made sure the source of food was gone they still hung around for a while. And where I live it wouldn't be too much for them to find a new source of food without traveling much. So, to get rid the rats still hanging around I found their holes and dropped the poison into it. The poison was usually gone within 30 minutes. Ii would close the hole. A few times it those holes reappeared, but eventually the situation seems to be cured. Believe me, I comb the area every day looking for signs. Thankfully, nothing for 3 months now.

I did the pellet gun thing. Them suckers are hard to hit. I'd say out of a 100 shots I got, maybe, 3.

 

[brucewayne]

A couple of things here:

1) They are getting food somewhere or they wouldn't be there

2) They are very smart (about as smart as a dog...you can actually train them as pets to fetch like a dog, etc)

3) They are extremely cautious.

Here's how you're going to catch them without having to wait up a shoot each one.

Make a trap like this:

However, you'll want to make the spinning part stationary for a while. Stuff something inside the can to make it completely immobile.

At first the rats won't trust it, but eventually they'll try it. When they feel it's all safe and secure (could take days), they'll start being careless about it.

That's when you make the can mobile again...and you'll catch them.

 

[Jbull]

Get a couple of kittens. Have them spayed, neutered and get their shots. Feed them once a day so they'll stay around and let nature take it's course. The rats will disappear! Our 3 cats keep the varmints (including snakes) well under control!

 

[RobertPlamondon]

I know there is a lot of forums about rats. But I am seriously having time with these things. I have put out all brands of poison sold on the market. Have used every trap even 75 dollar electronic traps. Nothing is working I do manage to pick a couple off with a pellet rifle here and there but nothing that is stop them. Understand when I say there is absolutely no feed. around for them to eat I throw a scoop out and what the chickens don't eat I sweep up. They are not getting in the storage shed and getting feed I know because I have set up cameras on each bin and cautiously watched for hole of bottom entry. Nothing never even seen them running on the floor even covered the floor with flour to track footprints again no traces and feed is not disappearing. There is no houses within 3 acres around us. We go hourly when home to gather eggs so I know they are not eating the eggs and not eggs the chickens. I can set out a pile of sunflower seeds and shoot a couple with pellet gun but that is the best that has been done thus far. any suggestion would be helpful

Wow, it sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this!

Near the house and barn, I like the big T-shaped Eaton bait stations that hold a bunch of one-ounce bait blocks, so there's plenty for everybody. These bait stations are difficult for chickens, pets, or children to get into, which is important! Usually the bait vanishes in a puff of smoke at first and I have to keep refilling the bait stations for a week or so, then it tapers off to nothing. For a while. The standard commercial bait blocks (Tomcat, etc.) seem irresistible to the local rats, even when they have access to the chicken feed in my range feeders. For me, the trick was making sure that (a) there was plenty of bait, so the job wasn't left half-done, and (b) the bait couldn't be dragged off by the rats and hidden somewhere, but had to be consumed on the spot. The commercial bait stations have rods that pass through the hole in the bait blocks to keep them in place. (I've found pelletized and granulated bait worthless for rats.)

Except in my brooder houses, I do all feeding outdoors and move the range feeders every time they're refilled. This exposes any rodent tunnels underneath, and the chickens (and, I think, owls) do the rest. Sometimes we put bait stations near the feeders as well.

Cats are okay for mice but in my experience they're not so good at keeping rats down. Terriers are supposed to be amazing, but I haven't seen this myself.

Good luck!

Robert