Squirrel or Rat?

[SnowyChickenMomma]

What do you think? Squirrel or rat, haven't found any droppings just holes

 

[SnowyChickenMomma]

wait just confirmed... its rats

What the heck do I do???

 

[Howard E]

I was going to suggest rats even before you were able to confirm it. Squirrel has open access and is in addition to the rats. Squirrel did not dig those holes. It is a semi-innocent bystander.

I know you did not do this on purpose, but you have inadvertently created a near ideal habitat for rats. They have food, water and shelter, not to mention easy access to come and go through the wire fence, which BTW, also shields and protects them from many predators.

Your only short run solution is to limit access to any chicken feed, clean up any spilt feed, and also set out poison baits in proper bait boxes......the kind that has pins to hold the bait blocks in place so the rats won't drag them out and disperse them who knows where. Buy only the type of bait blocks that have the holes in them. Anticoagulant types to start. And you don't stop with those. You keep those out for a long, long time. Maybe forever.

Long term solution, once the weather changes, is to make some changes in your coop setup. Once you are able to tip that house over to see what is living beneath it, do not scream when they start boiling out.

 

[wvchics]

Get some fly bait. It will kill anything that cannot vomit. However dogs and cats can get sick so be sure to tell your neighbors you are putting it out. I put it down at night and take it up in the morning. Your rat should be within a few feet of the bowl dead in the morning. It is almost instant and fairly safe for when there are animals you don't want to harm. You just mix the crystals in something sweet to attract them and get rid of them in the morning. I would just set some right outside where they come in. I used an old butter bowl so I had a lid in case I didn't get him the first night but I didn't need it. I had a coon coming in at night. Although if you have an infestation you may have to do it a couple times. Hope this helps

 

[SnowyChickenMomma]

Get some fly bait. It will kill anything that cannot vomit. However dogs and cats can get sick so be sure to tell your neighbors you are putting it out. I put it down at night and take it up in the morning. Your rat should be within a few feet of the bowl dead in the morning. It is almost instant and fairly safe for when there are animals you don't want to harm. You just mix the crystals in something sweet to attract them and get rid of them in the morning. I would just set some right outside where they come in. I used an old butter bowl so I had a lid in case I didn't get him the first night but I didn't need it. I had a coon coming in at night. Although if you have an infestation you may have to do it a couple times. Hope this helps

thank you for the info. I wonder who sells fly bait on a Sunday near me. Someone suggested ordering it online but I need to act NOW

 

[SnowyChickenMomma]

I was going to suggest rats even before you were able to confirm it. Squirrel has open access and is in addition to the rats. Squirrel did not dig those holes. It is a semi-innocent bystander.

I know you did not do this on purpose, but you have inadvertently created a near ideal habitat for rats. They have food, water and shelter, not to mention easy access to come and go through the wire fence, which BTW, also shields and protects them from many predators.

Your only short run solution is to limit access to any chicken feed, clean up any spilt feed, and also set out poison baits in proper bait boxes......the kind that has pins to hold the bait blocks in place so the rats won't drag them out and disperse them who knows where. Buy only the type of bait blocks that have the holes in them. Anticoagulant types to start. And you don't stop with those. You keep those out for a long, long time. Maybe forever.

Long term solution, once the weather changes, is to make some changes in your coop setup. Once you are able to tip that house over to see what is living beneath it, do not scream when they start boiling out.

Thanks. I always take the food and water in at night. I am going to try my first traps tonight and see how many I catch. I am afraid to tell my neighbors. I fear they will call the town on me

 

[wvchics]

If you don't tell anyone make sure you put it in a safe place it won't kill a pet, but it still could make them ill. I buy mine at the local co-op. Feed stores should carry it as well since it actually is used for fly control but also very effective for certain pests.

 

[Howard E]

Golden Malrin is the fly bait used, but you might want to think twice about that.....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/does-golden-malrin-work-on-rats.418712/

 

[kwhites634]

wait just confirmed... its rats

What the heck do I do???

I put Farnam's Just One Bite down in their burrow, deep enough so the chickens couldn't reach it. That was 6 months ago; no evidence of any since.

 

[wvchics]

There is always a lot of controversy when it comes to poison I will only use fly bait. I have used it before and I refuse to use strict 9 or cyanide because there is such risks with handling it. Fly bait comes in crystal form and is put into solution and used inside livestock barns. Being that it is still on the market and several farmers recommended it to me I use it. I only had to put it out once, and you don't have to worry about it getting carried off. Rat poison is very unsafe and agonizing death. Also even if it's pinned down the rats can still take several bites and relocate them before ingesting any of the poison. There are risks with any poison, and a lot of the comments you shared a link to are conflicting and haven't been researched. One person said it only kills flies another said it'll kill anything. It causes severe vomiting. However if the creature that ingests it is incapable of vomiting they die almost instantly. A lot of people get confused and simply think poison is poison, but different poisons work in different ways. I still feel this is much better than rat poison and a lot less suffering. I was reluctant at first but I do recommend it and always recommend precautions as well as with any poison.