Rats

[WindingRoad]

I canceled your order for the two feeders you placed this morning at 11:30 and refunded the Paypal payment.

I am not at all convinced that you would follow the instructions on assembling, installing, or training the birds.

These feeders are expensive to ship and a large investment for the customer, I do not accept orders where I think the feeder will not be a good fit. The small percentage I clear on a feed isn't worth a single upset customer.

I do not come here to sell feeders or convince people to buy my feeder. I come here to get feedback on both my feeder and other brands of feeders and to see what people are dealing with as far as feeder issues go. I do explain why my feeder is better when challenged and do challenge the old wives tales that are spun and why controlling your feed is the first and best step to take.

I've gotten the feed thing from the get go. I've never disputed that with you. I don't know why you keep trying to drill that fact into my brain.

 

[WindingRoad]

This but one of the news sources at the time.....

https://www.foxnews.com/science/cdc...-cannibal-rats-amid-covid-19-garbage-shortage

That is at the macro level. At the micro level......your property......the same potential exists. Get control of the food and you can get the upper hand on the rats.

REALLY. I've never disputed that fact. I bought a " better" feeder I cleaned up feed every night empty out side waterers, put out motion doctor lights. etc. Did you think I did alll that and spent money just for S&G.

 

[WindingRoad]

This but one of the news sources at the time.....

https://www.foxnews.com/science/cdc...-cannibal-rats-amid-covid-19-garbage-shortage

That is at the macro level. At the micro level......your property......the same potential exists. Get control of the food and you can get the upper hand on the rats.

I'm not sure I'm laughing at the CDC or Fox News,.

 

[WindingRoad]

Howard E has done some of the best work on BYC on dealing with rats. You really, really, really, ought to listen to his advice. Search his back posts and find one called Rats 101 or something similar, it is the definitive guide for stopping rodent infestations.

Not all feeders allow chickens to flick feed out, my feeder has the 1/2" inward lip that stops 95% of the birds from raking feed out, then the feeder lip extension stops the rest of them. Most feeders are made pretty to sell and easy for the birds to use without a thought to feed raking. My feeder is made to stop rodents and wild birds and feed waste. Like you said, feed on the ground isn't helping.

Limiting the feed isn't the answer? They don't eat much? Oh my.... Limiting the feed is the only sure way of eliminating rats in a coop. And they eat a lot. Many reviews on our feeder mention a huge reduction in feed used, two, three, even four times if it is wild birds that are the problem. If you think you have ten to twelve rats you likely have twice that number and dozens of babies in the nest.

Here is a clue for you that you wrote yourself. Your belief is that when your neighbor lost their chickens the rats came to your coop. Ya think? Seems like feed elimination at your neighbors (unless you think they kept feeding after the chickens were dead) worked like a charm, the rats were smart enough to move and find another coop that was willing to feed rats.

Another thing, 200 feet from a river... rats and mice are known to live within a few dozen yards of their food source and no further. Rodents do not have big territories because the most dangerous thing in their life is traveling searching for a source of food. The predators pick them off, birds of prey, foxes, coyotes, domestic cats and dogs, snakes, all sorts of animals will kill and eat rodents. A rodent that travels 200 feet often isn't going to survive. Rodents leave a stream of urine as they travel and some birds of prey can see in different wave lengths and that urine stream is like a neon sign.

The amazing thing is that you are thinking of spending hundreds of dollars on a concrete slab and burying wire. The rats will love that slab to tunnel under. A darn feeder will cost a tenth of that and take a tenth of the time to install and will actually work.

But one thing, please, please, please do not buy my feeder. In fact I am going to watch feeder sales from Maine in the future. You wouldn't be successful with a feeder as your mind is made up and no one is going to convince you to follow the instructions. I am going to recommend the grandpa feeder and buy it off Amazon so you can return it.

I am not buying the Grandpa feeder. I have never dissed your feeder. Show me the post. When did I say I wouldn't follow the instructions. And why did I post this thread if I wasn't wanting to get rid of the rats. Unlike some here who post a problem here and never return I follow up. Funny how you got the humor from that blog guy but you seem to miss much of mine. You don't have to sell it to me. Doesn't mean I won't get 2 even as I ordered 2. I have children.

BTW I don't particularly care for the fact that you've posted my name here. Thanks.

 

[WindingRoad]

This but one of the news sources at the time.....

https://www.foxnews.com/science/cdc...-cannibal-rats-amid-covid-19-garbage-shortage

That is at the macro level. At the micro level......your property......the same potential exists. Get control of the food and you can get the upper hand on the rats.

Another solution doesn't work. I can't seem to buy the greatest feeder on the planet. Just like poison doesn't work. Do you suppose the neighbors tried several and now the rats are savvy? The live a stones throw away.

 

[WindingRoad]

The problem with feeders isn't the feeders, it is the people. So many will refuse to learn from others that have found something that works or they refuse to spend the money needed to fix the problem. Feeders are expensive, shipping sometimes costs half the cost of the feeder if it is going half way across the country. Or cheap shipping on Amazon but you give away 40% of the sales price and have to double the cost of the feeder. We are also living in a time where a can of chili that cost 80 cents ten years ago and now costs $2.00, government made inflation devaluing our currency.

These crazy schemes and old wives tales never work. Soda pop, plaster, now ex lax and potato flakes, nor does attempting to make a feeder rodent proof. I mean it would be possible at great expense, but who would spend thousands of dollars when $100 would fix the problem?

Rube Goldberg contraptions to trap the mice are fun to look into, till you learn no matter how clever the trap, the rats figure out the danger in short order. Even if you were to clean them out, the next batch will find your rat shangri-la and move in the vacant territory.

Sounds like they are finding plenty of natural food in the summer if they are disappearing in the summer. Just like mice in homes, more of an autumn and winter thing, trying to find a warm place.

And to beat a dead horse as it seems that is what burns through, stop feeding the rats and the rats will leave. To do that you need the right feeder that is actually rat proof, you need some full size birds to operate the treadle for any bantams in your flock, you have to find other ways of feeding chicks and pullets till they are a couple of pounds. That said, if you have already had a feeder in use you won't have a current population of rats or mice and it is very likely that the few weeks between feathered out chicks and a two pound weight isn't likely to generate a rat problem.

Who said they are disappearing in the summer. They were here since spring. I tried to stop feeding the rats and was foiled again. Just like the ex-lax rat poison etc.

 

[WindingRoad]

Please read my posts before touting metal containers for feed. I have 6 of them and I put my shavings in some and also my nest box straw. I empty all waterers at night. The rats are coming out during the day time and eating chicken feed that has been flicked out of feeders. And drinking water. They will eat the cat food and I'm about to ask my doc to write me a prescription for Warfarin. They are living under my off the ground coop and scurry under at the first sight of me. They are getting feed in the coop also. Seems to me there must be some smart person who could build a flick proof feeder.
Limiting feed is not the answer. They don't eat much. You can't have one pellet on the ground because they will find it. They don't hibernate so winter is not going to get rid of them. I have had chickens for 3 summers and this is the first time I've had rats. My neighbors lost their chickens and I believe this is where I got rats from. Besides I live lest that 200 feet from a major River. Ever here of river rats.

They can tunnel under all they want but I don't think they will tunnel up through the concrete to get in the coop. And they won't be living under the coop.

 

[WindingRoad]

At this point I am replying not to you but to anyone that would be misled by what you wrote. No feeder shipments to Maine for awhile unless I am sure they are not you.

Your statements are nonsense. First you appear to be saying the trough is "not too narrow", I have to interpret that for it to make any sense, you must mean that the trough is too deep.
Common sense would say that the deeper the trough the less likely a hen could rake feed out. I designed the feeder with feed waste in mind, of course the trough is deep and wide. A shallow trough would easily allow feed waste, the Feed o Matic was a perfect example of that before it was taken off Amazon for excessive returns.

We ship maybe two feeder lip extenders a month and half of them or more are ordered with a feeder before the customer knows it is even needed. That shows you how tiny a percentage of flocks will have a hen that can rake feed out of a properly designed feeders and the lip extenders work every single time. Usually feed raking comes from people putting treats or using mixed feed and the hens are searching for the goodies. If they would stop doing that the hen would stop raking feed.

Worse, you ignore previous customers like Howard E that say otherwise nor the several hundred reviews including all the independent sites that do not make a penny off my feeder.

Ignorance of an issue doesn't make anyone an expert on that issue. It just means they are ignorant on that issue.

Can you point me to the post where I said the trough is not to narrow?

 

[dazza1965]

First off rats don't hibernate. The ex-lax they ate for a couple of days and then stopped eating. I know I must have at least 10-20 rats. They are living under my coop. It is off the ground with 2 pavers at corners and middle section of the 4 walls. 8x12. So a pretty big coop. IF we ever get another stimulus check I'm gonna move the coop onto a 4 inch deep concrete pad. The biggest problem with rats is that they DIG. I have so many large rocks in my run.

I haven't found a poison yet that will work. My neighbor had skunks in one of his sheds leading to the barn. I don't mind skunks. They didn't bother my chickens and they are supposed to eat rats. Yeah right. But I haven't smelled them this year so I think he either dispatched them or they got caught in a neighbors garage.

My chickens are chickens. They watch the rats run through the run and do nothing. If the rats happen to get into the coop they run out of the coop enmass squaking and flapping their wings. They are afraid of them. So much for chickens being predators.

I have found 2 dead rats in my endeavor to eradicate them.
Gonna try D-con next. I'm also gonna try the PVC piping method of feeding. I have 13 birds and will make the double opening ones. google is your friend.

I might make a bucket trap but they'll figure it out quickly.

I have a friend who has a backhoe. Gonna get him to dig a trench and put down hard wire cloth all around run and coop. The only problem with that is in the spring my birds love to eat the grass on the other side of the fence. Just put their heads through and munch.

Yeah cats aren't helpful for rats. They like something they can overpower such as mice. I don't have them.

Good luck with finding something that works. Share your findings with us. Thanks and good luck.

Thanks for you informative reply. I always thought they hibernate. Looked on Google, BBC gardners world suggest moving stuff around in the garden, blocking holes, using rat mesh or wire. I did put rat traps down overnight and block up some holes / fresh digging under the decking. Not seen any sign of them today. But I bet they will be back. I will try the bucket method and may change the feeding method for the ducks.

 

[dazza1965]

The problem with feeders isn't the feeders, it is the people. So many will refuse to learn from others that have found something that works or they refuse to spend the money needed to fix the problem. Feeders are expensive, shipping sometimes costs half the cost of the feeder if it is going half way across the country. Or cheap shipping on Amazon but you give away 40% of the sales price and have to double the cost of the feeder. We are also living in a time where a can of chili that cost 80 cents ten years ago and now costs $2.00, government made inflation devaluing our currency.

These crazy schemes and old wives tales never work. Soda pop, plaster, now ex lax and potato flakes, nor does attempting to make a feeder rodent proof. I mean it would be possible at great expense, but who would spend thousands of dollars when $100 would fix the problem?

Rube Goldberg contraptions to trap the mice are fun to look into, till you learn no matter how clever the trap, the rats figure out the danger in short order. Even if you were to clean them out, the next batch will find your rat shangri-la and move in the vacant territory.

Sounds like they are finding plenty of natural food in the summer if they are disappearing in the summer. Just like mice in homes, more of an autumn and winter thing, trying to find a warm place.

And to beat a dead horse as it seems that is what burns through, stop feeding the rats and the rats will leave. To do that you need the right feeder that is actually rat proof, you need some full size birds to operate the treadle for any bantams in your flock, you have to find other ways of feeding chicks and pullets till they are a couple of pounds. That said, if you have already had a feeder in use you won't have a current population of rats or mice and it is very likely that the few weeks between feathered out chicks and a two pound weight isn't likely to generate a rat problem.

Thanks for the reply. Are your feeders available in the UK? Would they be suitable for ducks?