Rats

[halo]

Well, I found a few baby rats in one of my feed barrels a couple of weeks ago; the feed was so low that they couldnt get out. So I dispatched of them, and figured Id better put some bait out, since if I saw 2 I probably have 6. I got that Just One Bite, thats its little blocks with holes in them. I put a nail thru them, hammered them into a piece of board, and put them where no one could get to them. I put them out in the evening and pick them up the next morning before the puppies go out.

In 2 weeks Ive picked up over 100 rats!!! What the hell??????? I had no idea, there was no evidence, other than a few bags chewed on once in a while. The first couple of days I found some big dead ones, then came the family. I cant believe it, each day Id pick up 5 or 6 dead ones. First they would be nearly grown, then a little smaller, then a little smaller, then a little smaller. Now Im working on the mice sized ones.

I was in one of my kennels yesterday, looked up, and where the tarp covered the plywood, there were 5 rat faces looking at me, waiting for me to put the bait up there!!!

This bait takes a few days to work, since rats are so smart, if they eat it and die right away, the rest wont come back, so its been a smorgasbord for the last 2 weeks. Ive gone thru 2 packages, and will have to get more. Ill keep putting it out until they stop cleaning it up every night.

If you see evidence of rats, START NOW! They are taking over the world!

 

[chickensrfood]

An easier solution is to feed your birds what they can consume a few times per day then remove all food. Store feed in rat proof containers. No food source and they will move on and continue the baiting to speed up the process if you would like. Anytime feed is left in feeders the rats will come unless your wire is half inch they will find a way in.

 

[halo]

My feeders are always locked up at night. Im glad I had left that one garbage can open and found that first few; otherwise I might not have done anything about it.

 

[jhm47]

If you're finding a few dead ones above ground, just think of all the ones that go underground to die. I bait all the time, and have very rarely ever seen a dead one. We live very near a grain elevator that has a LOT of rats, and they also bait at all times, but they also hardly ever see dead ones.

 

[FarmGirl01]

Dang!!!

 

[RM44]

Wow! I hate rats. I keep my feed locked up at night, and make sure that my chickens' food container is totally empty before they go to bed at night. I haven't seen any evidence of rats in my coop, but I'm having a problem up on my back porch, a straight shot from the coop and about 30 feet away. For some reason I get rat droppings around the back door of the porch every night. There is no food and no clutter and nothing around the deck/porch, but these rat droppings appear there every night, like the rats are just coming to the back door and hanging out on the porch.

I have 2 indoor/outdoor cats, and 2 outdoor dogs that only come inside to kennel up for the night. Can you tell me how this bait would work and be safe for me to use considering my cats and dogs?

 

[SB Austex]

Just putting feed away won't get rid of rats. It's obviously a great idea, but won't guarantee no rats.

We had some under the house before the chickens ever came. Rats can't get into my feed or coop. It's completely surrounded by 1/2 x 1 wire or smaller. And there are no signs e.g. rat poop or the dogs going nuts) in the coop either.

 

[drdoolittle]

I would be very careful using the bait with cats and dogs outside. We used it earlier this year, and had the boards the bait was nailed to in a couple of empty kennels that none of our animals could get into. My hubby also designed a box to put the bait in. But, you still have the problem of the poisoned rats stumbling around outside----we found several like that. We kept our dogs and cats inside for a few days-a week after the rats stopped eating the bait. You are also supposed to wear rubber gloves when you pick up the dead rats to avoid any poison getting on your skin. By the way, the last of the rats we found dead were newborn and hairless----how they managed to crawl out of the den, I don't know----yuck!

 

[halo]

Yes, Im finding the dead, or nearly dead, rats, outside the kennels. My dogs will grab them, but they dont eat them. I dont even want them doing that. I always walk the area before letting them out. I found 5 more dead ones this morning, teeny bitty ones. They are getting smaller and smaller.

Last night one of the bait stations was clean, but the other still had half the bait left. Hopefully Im getting to the bottom of this.

 

[awesomechickens]

I no i have a family of mice, one chipmunk, and 1 shrew under my chicken coop