Rats

[PoppasGrill]

* I should have explained that in case anyone has not tried this, I read on a pest control company's blog about peppermint oil. It said that it will kill rats and mice. I knew that it would repel them, and I've used peppermint oil when we sometimes have had a mouse problem in the house, and the mice do disappear, but I always thought it just repelled them. The blog says that peppermint oil will cause damage to the lungs of mice and rats, and it will kill them. You're supposed to use 30 to 40 drops of peppermint oil on a cotton swap, and put it where you know they are, where their holes are, etc. So I just dropped the oil into the dirt at the entrance to any rat hole I could find in the barn. 40 drops per hole. It did work really well, we didn't see any rats, or evidence of rat activity, for about a month. But, you have to keep doing it. The barn smelled pretty nice, though!

Also, we found that the rats wouldn't eat the Rat X throw packs after awhile. But, if you open the throw packs and pour them into a container like a small can, you can mix the Rat X pellets with cornmeal or cocoa powder, and they will eat that, and RatX also works well and is not toxic to other animals. We've also mixed Rat X pellets with peanut butter or jelly. You're not supposed to let the pellets get wet, but I think the rats always eat the pellets before they have a chance to get really wet from peanut butter or jelly.

Lots of good info on here re ways to get rid of them. Thanks, everybody.

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I’m going to try the peppermint oil, never heard of this before.
Our problem is the donkey trough, no way to secure it without cleaning it every night, but then the rats come out in the daylight. I heard something about baking soda killing them , I think it blows their stomach up. But not sure if I can put baking soda in the trough or if will hurt donkeys and chickens, as they get in the trough to pick through the corn and grains.

 

[chicknmania]

I’m going to try the peppermint oil, never heard of this before.
Our problem is the donkey trough, no way to secure it without cleaning it every night, but then the rats come out in the daylight. I heard something about baking soda killing them , I think it blows their stomach up. But not sure if I can put baking soda in the trough or if will hurt donkeys and chickens, as they get in the trough to pick through the corn and grains.

I've tried the peppermint oil, if you don't use straight peppermint oil, it won't work. When I used straight peppermint oil, I noticed that they did seem to disappear for a while...a few weeks. Those rodent repelling sprays that have peppermint in them don't work for rats. Rat X is a more humane way to kill them. It works well if you can get them to eat it. If you can't, I have tried putting the pellets in an old catfood can or something and dusting them with ground up peanuts, sweetened cocoa powder, or powdered sugar. They will eat them that way. It says on the package that you can't mix them with food, but dusting them with the powder seems to work OK. Rat X won't kill anything but rodents, so birds and other animals are safe. But I still hide the Rat X in places where the chickens aren't likely to find it. The rats will, it doesn't have to be right on top of them, and you can stick the Rat X in an open box or coffee can or something that the birds can't easily access. You can also mix powdered sugar with plaster of paris; they will eat that and yeah it will kill them. I hate doing that though. I worry about the flock getting into it, although I doubt they'd eat much of it. And, yes, they're rats, but they are still animals that don't know anything besides how to survive. Using the plaster of paris is not a great way to kill them, I think they must suffer. I think the baking soda is cruel too, but I've never tried that. Covered rat traps I've had mixed success with, but again, they are more humane than the standard snap rat traps.

 

[PoppasGrill]

I've tried the peppermint oil, if you don't use straight peppermint oil, it won't work. When I used straight peppermint oil, I noticed that they did seem to disappear for a while...a few weeks. Those rodent repelling sprays that have peppermint in them don't work for rats. Rat X is a more humane way to kill them. It works well if you can get them to eat it. If you can't, I have tried putting the pellets in an old catfood can or something and dusting them with ground up peanuts, sweetened cocoa powder, or powdered sugar. They will eat them that way. It says on the package that you can't mix them with food, but dusting them with the powder seems to work OK. Rat X won't kill anything but rodents, so birds and other animals are safe. But I still hide the Rat X in places where the chickens aren't likely to find it. The rats will, it doesn't have to be right on top of them, and you can stick the Rat X in an open box or coffee can or something that the birds can't easily access. You can also mix powdered sugar with plaster of paris; they will eat that and yeah it will kill them. I hate doing that though. I worry about the flock getting into it, although I doubt they'd eat much of it. And, yes, they're rats, but they are still animals that don't know anything besides how to survive. Using the plaster of paris is not a great way to kill them, I think they must suffer. I think the baking soda is cruel too, but I've never tried that. Covered rat traps I've had mixed success with, but again, they are more humane than the standard snap rat traps.

We found 6 small rats in with the chicks the other day, have seen them running across the rafters a few times before that, but to catch them in with the chicks scared us. I would like to have a way to drive them off, but , for the safety of our chicks, I will exterminate .
We tried the twisting can with feed/ peanut butter on it, with no success, as the trough is easier for them. Our cats are afraid of the donkeys and chickens, so they won’t go to the barn. We had one cat that would hang out there, but a water moccasin got him.saw a moccasin out by the coops a few days later. He was able to make it to the house before passing.

 

[chicknmania]

We found 6 small rats in with the chicks the other day, have seen them running across the rafters a few times before that, but to catch them in with the chicks scared us. I would like to have a way to drive them off, but , for the safety of our chicks, I will exterminate .
We tried the twisting can with feed/ peanut butter on it, with no success, as the trough is easier for them. Our cats are afraid of the donkeys and chickens, so they won’t go to the barn. We had one cat that would hang out there, but a water moccasin got him.saw a moccasin out by the coops a few days later. He was able to make it to the house before passing.

Yes we have lost chicks to rats it scares me too. The problem is for us anyway is we can kill rats but...its still a farm community. And everybody has rats so new ones just move in.