Rats

[Joplus]

This is a nightmare. I think it might be time to get rid of my flock
I have roof rats and scorpions. It's totally out of control. I can't hardware cloth 1000 square foot chicken run. The problem is the massive amount of water needed to cool my flock. It gets up to 120℉ in the summer. Today was 106℉ out. We have a swamp cooler and baby pool. We have the nipples too and they drink constantly, soaking the ground. I went outside with a blacklight tonight for my own safety to shut off the swamp cooler and sure enough scorpions all out drinking water where the hose drips. Then rats run up the walls of my house and into my attic (above my bedroom!). I don't see a solution to this. If I lock my flock up with hardware cloth they would die of heat.

 

[JaeG]

We have a stream through the back of our section which means we have big rats. They'll come strolling out during the daytime too, bold as can be. I'm in New Zealand where rats have been introduced, and other than the odd pet cat, there's nothing at all to keep their population in check, other than hawks, but they are really quite rare. We are currently trapping them and gassing them - we put the whole trap in a plastic bag with a tube in the top attached to a bottle into which is placed baking soda and white vinegar to produce carbon dioxide. None of our other traps have worked. They had managed to chew holes in the wire on my big, roofed, fully enclosed run (I wondered why the sparrows were suddenly getting in) so that's been boarded up with planks of wood. It's not great wire and needs replacing so that's on the 'to do' list.

We also ended up with them in the roof of our house through a hole that hasn't been sealed up (renovations). It's coming into winter here and they like our chimney - nice and toasty. My husband did put poison up there and we haven't heard them since. So that hole is getting sealed up, if it ever stops raining!

I've also had mice squeezing through the quarter inch hardware cloth on our aviary to eat my finch eggs and babies. So we've had to cover the wire with insect mesh at one end and frost cloth plastic sheeting along the sides (which is keeping them warmer at least).

I seriously want a breed of dog that I can train to kill vermin!

 

[cacknballs]

Our neighborhood has a huge rat problem, especially since someone has spent the last few years shooting all the cats (so mine now live in the house full time). We are using a combination of snap traps and Rat-X, plus two of our dogs do their best to chase them off. Rats are the worst pest I've ever encountered. At night we turn over the chickens food and water so the rats have nothing to snack on. We close the hens up at night but their yard is accessible. We also have to be careful with our rabbits. The rats terrorize them and eat the babies. We now have an indoor rabbit nursery because of them. I've been stepping up my game on this over the last week and am hoping to get them under control here soon.

what about getting a couple of mouser toms from the animal rescue place and if they get shot...meh?

tough to beat cat's for rodents.

 

[cacknballs]

This is a nightmare. I think it might be time to get rid of my flock
I have roof rats and scorpions. It's totally out of control. I can't hardware cloth 1000 square foot chicken run. The problem is the massive amount of water needed to cool my flock. It gets up to 120℉ in the summer. Today was 106℉ out. We have a swamp cooler and baby pool. We have the nipples too and they drink constantly, soaking the ground. I went outside with a blacklight tonight for my own safety to shut off the swamp cooler and sure enough scorpions all out drinking water where the hose drips. Then rats run up the walls of my house and into my attic (above my bedroom!). I don't see a solution to this. If I lock my flock up with hardware cloth they would die of heat.

.22LR (or even .17HMR)...

lead in front of gunpowder solves all problems.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

My mum thought there was a LARGE pile of poop in the coop, while she was "mucking out"... but she screamed when she found out that it was a rat without a head! Mine girls had pecked its head OFF!! GROSS!!!!! I do not like rats, neither do my chooks!

I wish my chickens would do that. I throw them mice and moles all of they time, but they're not interested.

 

[cacknballs]

I wish my chickens would do that. I throw them mice and moles all of they time, but they're not interested.

run them through a meat grinder and they'll be interested. promise.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

run them through a meat grinder and they'll be interested. promise.

Don't have a meat grinder. How about chopping them into small pieces? It sounds like blood and guts is what turns chickens on.

 

[cacknballs]

haha, that would probably work!

they love meat, doesn't matter what kind.

 

[enichoels]

We got two barn cats recently. They don't mess with our birds or rabbits, but they have been rodent killing machines.

Is there an effective way to deal with rats? My husband told me we had a couple. Well last night I went out to place some fertilized eggs under my broody and there were more than a couple! I've had some mysterious chicken deaths as well and I'm wondering if the rats weren't a factor!