Rodent discovered last night inside coop

[Chickassan]

Oh dear, they don't work one little bit I'm sorry to tell you. Better you know than waste your money. I do know how to get rid of moles, put a piece of juicy fruit gum in the mole tunnel but use the wrapper so you don't touch it. The mole will eat the gum and expire.

Has anyone tried the Ultra Sonic spikes to get rid of mice, snakes & moles. Do you know if they are safe for the chickens??

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Well, now I'm convinced that the rats must go. It's just the how to do it part that I'm stuck on. I'll figure something out soon, I hope. I am pretty sure that if I trapped one, I couldn't kill it myself. And don't want to let it go somewhere else, carrying who knows what diseases. So, I'm stuck with that problem.
As far as forcing the chickens to go inside at night, it's just too darn hot here to make them at this time of year. We'll work on that as things cool down, in a couple months. Poor things just pant all day, tho I do put frozen water bottles in their water container and freeze treats for them on particularly hot days. Thanks for all the input. I've never heard of the spikes, so can't answer that question, sorry!

Sorry to reply so late, but have you tried fans and misting? I have used lawn sprinkler in small area of run (not by the fans in the coop/roosting area) on really hot days and it seems to help with the heat. Right now we are dealing with rain. As it appears many of you are. Good luck to all who are dealing with weather related chicken issuses. And let's keep brain storming. As a group I think we could solve the problems of the would, just by our diverse brain storming and respect for one another!

 

[LMVB]

Sorry to reply so late, but have you tried fans and misting? I have used lawn sprinkler in small area of run (not by the fans in the coop/roosting area) on really hot days and it seems to help with the heat. Right now we are dealing with rain. As it appears many of you are. Good luck to all who are dealing with weather related chicken issuses. And let's keep brain storming. As a group I think we could solve the problems of the would, just by our diverse brain storming and respect for one another!

 

[LMVB]

Ursuline Chick, are you talking about fans and misters to cool the chickens down, or deter the rodents? If it's the former, yes and I that and each day I add a frozen water bottler to their water container, which really helps. Thanks for the reply and totally agree--we can solve so many problems by working together!

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Yes, cooling hens. Sorry, I still think you need to rid yourself of the rats in what ever way you are comfortable with. It may involve, delegating that task to a husband, older son, male neighbor, since you don't care for the ending part. I use my husband whenever I can to deal with rats. When it bothers me, I think of the consequences and it helps me "buck up" to the task. good luck

 

[Folly's place]

Pet rats are wonderful! Wild rats in the coop or home, not so much. There, dead/ gone is best. Mary

 

[LMVB]

Yes, cooling hens. Sorry, I still think you need to rid yourself of the rats in what ever way you are comfortable with. It may involve, delegating that task to a husband, older son, male neighbor, since you don't care for the ending part. I use my husband whenever I can to deal with rats. When it bothers me, I think of the consequences and it helps me "buck up" to the task. good luck

 

[LMVB]

Ursuline, I do have a fan, and turn on the water sprinkler just in front of the run, both to help cool the chickens, but with temps averaging around 100+ plus the humidity, they are miserable no matter what I do. Thanks for the rodent encouragement. I've checked the coop itself, and there's no way it could get inside other than the ramp into the coop. Next, I need to figure out how it got into the run, as I buried wire 6-8 inches deep on the outside of the run, and buried that with dirt and rocks. SO, need to find that breach. Thanks again!

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Sounds like you are doing everything you can for your girls. They are lucky to have you. We are also dealing with heat and rain, with some flooding. So I get you feel like a chicken running around. LOL. We actually prepared to turn our 2nd story laundry room into an emergency chicken coop, due to elevated street flooding that turned our yard into a swamp and flooded out one car. Not complaining, mind you, my neighbor got water in her home and I know others are having the same problem all over the US right now. We are in the gulf south so I get the humidity issuses as well. 15 min outside and you feel like someone hit you with the hose. Our girls are doing okay though, so again can't complain. Good luck to you, hope all goes well. At least you didn't plant a blood oragnge tree in the chicken's yard for shade and protection from predators only to find out later that it attracts rats. Sometimes we learn the hard way, as in my case. LOL

 

[Sara Ranch]

Not hijacking the thread - but Ursuline Chick mentioned something important...back up/emergency plans.

We sometimes think of evacuation plans for ourselves, maybe household pets, but what about outside animals? What would you do if you needed to leave in a hurry? (Yes, I do have a plan. It'd be a tight squeeze, but I could fit everyone in the car, provided they allowed me to. I keep one animal food meal ready to go at all times & jugs of water in the house. It's not a perfect plan, but it would give everyone a chance for another day.)