rats!

[ChickenChaps]

Do rats kill quail?

 

[quailmale]

Quote:
Yes they very much will and worse sometimes they just kill it and leave it all mauled up.

 

[rittert3]

A norway rat (the wild rats we have here) will chew on or bite anything inadament or living, I've heard tales of sleeping human babies mauled by them. All but 1 of my ~50 domestic rats (over 3 years) were a totally different story, they all acted more like family dogs. The one agressive rat was sold as a frozen dinner for someones pet snake as soon as see weaned her first litter

, I kept 3 of her daughters with no issues.

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

Quote:
so are most dogs.

This is my rat patrol

 

[shelleyd2008]

Poison is the only way to get rid of a large rat population, speaking from experience. They might only be getting the feed right now but it won't be long before they start taking birds.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
No. You can also use Plaster of Paris mixed with peanut butter but the rats we had wouldn't touch it.

You can also sprinkle concrete or PoP mix around their den holes. Rats are surprisingly very 'clean' animals and clean themselves often. Sprinkling the stuff around the holes makes the rats get it on their fur. Supposedly, when they clean themselves it gets stuck in their gut that way.

But I still say poison is the only way to go.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
I had guineas when I had rats, the only problem is that the guineas sleep at night when rats are most active.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
When we had rats I lost quail, baby chicks, adult bantam chickens, 4-5 week old large-breed ducklings, and at least 2 full-grown LF chicken hens to the nasty things. They will kill anything they can catch.

 

[R_Chickens]

Glue boards work well. You have to keep them clean, as bedding and dirt will cancel out their effectiveness.

If someone gets in it by mistake, have some vegetable oil handy to remove the glue.

Good thing about these is you can put them in their run ways- no bait needed. Just be sure to check them frequently, as mice and rats will chew the board or something else to escape.

Only use the 'rat' version (big boards) The little mouse one are too tiny and the vermint ( ) can easily escape.

When you find one trapped, fold the board in half and step on it. Fast and humane.

Mice and rats contaminate everything they touch and defecate where they eat to mark food sources.

 

[airmechreed]

These are the traps I use for mice around the house they also make them in rat size
www.nevermisstrap.com/pages/testimonials.html