Rats!!!!!!!

[meowmmy65]

I'm having a problem, too. I can't use poison because of our dogs. While researching, I found people using ex-lax to get rid of rats. Seriously! They apparently really like the chocolate kind. What I read was they eat it, go back to the nest, and when it starts to work, they go all over - uncontrollable. It ruins the nest, so they evacuate. I also read it kills them, because they become dehydrated.

Now, I don't know if any of this is true, or if it works, but I'm trying it. Anybody else hear of this?

 

[CAjerseychick]

I have seen a black plastic trap (its like a rectangle) they go in and eat poison and cant get out-- not sure where to get it as I think the Janitor at one of the local facilities here had set it out.... But that seemed pretty safe and efficient...

 

[capstone]

We had an issue with them a couple years ago... not in a coop but under our dog pen. I freaked when i saw them. I love rats as pets and have had them in the past but when they are outside getting into things damaging property and potentially injuring our animals then they must DIE.

I am not sure this would work for a coop situation but we went and bought these smoke/poison bombs. You find the holes then you light one and throw it down in and cover the hole with dirt. In fact you cover all the holes with dirt except a few to throw the bombs in first. within a few days we started finding dead rats and thank goodness they have never come back again.

We got the bombs at TSC it is over with the mouse/rat poisong. It works for ground hogs as well.

Just a suggestion.

 

[cary 1973]

i would say your best bet seince you see them scurryugn in coop get the live trap where they go in and the door shuts you can get them at lows and remove them in the moring

 

[rachp05]

Okay guys, thanks for all the feedback! I might have to try that exlax trick. I am still with rats and willing to try ANYTHING! I have killed a few, maybe five over the past several weeks, but I don't think that even puts a dent on my population. I will tell you that the steel wool and peppermint oil has helped a little. I put the peppermint oil and some water in a spray bottle and it seems to keep them off for a few days, until it wears off and rains. I did have the pest control man put one of the black locked boxes with poison that only rodents can get in, outside of my coop & again have seen maybe three dead, but like another person replied, they're unfortunately pretty smart! I have come to the realization that wherever there is chicken feed they WILL find a way to it. And unfortunately I do not have the time to twice a day remove the food and replace it. I will just have to learn to get over the little rodents I suppose! Ughhhhh. If anyone finds a fix, I'll be waiting!

Thanks again all!

 

[jak2002003]

You need to stop what is attracting the rats.

In this case its the chicken food.

Only have food in the coop for the chickens and take it away at night, making sure you sweep up all the spilled food. Store the food in containers that the rats can not get into. Secure the coop so no rats can get in.

Once you get a few rats, you will soon have many and they reproduce like mad, so you need to sort this problem out now.

You also should set box traps with poison inside them to kill the rats that are left. These traps are safe as bigger animals can not get to the poison inside them. Place them against walls and in areas where you have seen the rats. Keep the taps out of reach of your dog.

 

[jak2002003]

Sorry forgot to add if you are not sure about doing this, just call a pest control company to do it for you, explaining your situation to them.

 

[mattblackburn]

I have pet rats so I can tell u they are smart and probe solvers they know where food is so they will stop at nothing to get to it I would suggest take it away at night but what worries me is they are also meat eaters I'm affared they well go after your chicks. They will notbchew through steel whoop I'm going to suggest somthingbi never though I would I hatebthem and find it very cruel but in your situation needed Glue trapped are best and if a chick or dog gets it stuck to them mineroil will release it. But please if you catch rat don't let it suffer drowned it or release it in the woods don't let it die a slow death

as someone who almost drowned surfing i can tell you drowning is not humane at all. Break its neck/ sever its head/ shoot it with a pellet gun if you care about being humane but dont drown it lol. Personally its a rat and a pest and i have no remorse for it to die slowly on a glue trap but just saying i dont agree drowning is any more humane.

 

[BradnKellie]

My backyard cat takes care of any rats that get near HER chickens.

 

[Chambertin]

I have to agree with the drowning thing. That's about as farm from humane as you can get.
I never had a true experience like mattblackburn, but I went through aircrew school and know that water + long time = super fear. Why else does water-board torture work so well?
Humane can be messy, the only important part is that it is quick. So get a hammer, pellet gun, baseball bat, whatever can get them out in one quick smash.

I hate rats and to be honest fully support some not so humane deaths. Here in China they have a phrase: "Kill the chicken in front of the monkey." Bad phrase for a chicken lover, but good idea. If you want someone gone then show them what’s in store if they stick around, prefably on something that makes a lot of noise before it's dispatched.
A few rats stuck to a trap screaming will certainly give the rest of the buggers a chance to think about whether or not they want back into your feed bin.

Living in the city I wholly support glue traps. They work well, will continue to work for months even in a damp environment and don’t allow a poisoned rat to wiggle into someplace that you can’t find, stinking up the area for months. Poor neighbor.
Also some poisions are active long after death, good idea to be worried about pets.

We had a poisoned rat silk into our window after we cleaned any leftover rats the previous owner left behind. We wern't looking for them anymore and let me tell you even though we caught it right when the stink came it was cleaning for day’s straight to get the stink out. DAYS of terrible stench and after 3 months you could still smell it near the floorboards. Even now when I walk in the room my memory provides me with a quick refresher... terrible.

Unfortunately nature makes rats an impressive pest and any remorse will give them a huge edge they will exploit making the problem even bigger.
Glue trap every hole you find, they will eventually think its safe, or just be curious enough to walk on them and trap themselves. To be honest a glue trap and drowning aren’t much different, it’s still a struggling suffering death. To me the glue trap is better, at least the rat can convince itself its making progress for any pain endured, while drowning is 100% suffering.