Hello all,
I kept crossing my fingers, hoping it wouldn't happen. Silly, I know. But this morning I was greeting by droppings in both the chicken an duck runs, and what appeared to be temp nests in the straw as well. Haven't seen any, but they are definitely around. I live in an urban neighborhood, so I am not surprised by the rodents, and assume rats will soon follow if they are not here already. I would like to protect not only the birds (who are locked up at night, so I should be okay) but also my gardens.
Here's my situation. I have 4 housecats who do not go outside. 2 are 16+ years old and the other two are just... well... stupid. Not mouser material. I have three dogs - a lab/chessie, a shep mix and a lab/rottie puppy. Inside at night with free range of the yard during the day. I have 7 chickens in the coop and run, 2 cayugas in their run with a kennel that locks at night, 3 rabbits in the "barn" (converted carport) in a condo cage arrangement, 4 quail in a flight cage.
Getting a barn cat or two (fixed, of course) would be problematic because of the doggies. While they are used to cats, they still like to chase. Also, thats a lot of animals to be responsible for. My chickens are pretty savvy, so I am not concerned about feline injury to the flocks, but am concerned about the felines getting injured.
Poison is out of the question because of the dogs and neighborhood kitties. And kiddies, unfortunately. << Having issues with those little buggers breaking in as well. *sigh* That calls for electric fences, surveillance cameras and a stack of preprinted trespassing tickets
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What would you recommend to nip this problem in the bud? I want to create a rodent nightmare zone without impacting my animal troop.
Thank you for any and all advice!
I kept crossing my fingers, hoping it wouldn't happen. Silly, I know. But this morning I was greeting by droppings in both the chicken an duck runs, and what appeared to be temp nests in the straw as well. Haven't seen any, but they are definitely around. I live in an urban neighborhood, so I am not surprised by the rodents, and assume rats will soon follow if they are not here already. I would like to protect not only the birds (who are locked up at night, so I should be okay) but also my gardens.
Here's my situation. I have 4 housecats who do not go outside. 2 are 16+ years old and the other two are just... well... stupid. Not mouser material. I have three dogs - a lab/chessie, a shep mix and a lab/rottie puppy. Inside at night with free range of the yard during the day. I have 7 chickens in the coop and run, 2 cayugas in their run with a kennel that locks at night, 3 rabbits in the "barn" (converted carport) in a condo cage arrangement, 4 quail in a flight cage.
Getting a barn cat or two (fixed, of course) would be problematic because of the doggies. While they are used to cats, they still like to chase. Also, thats a lot of animals to be responsible for. My chickens are pretty savvy, so I am not concerned about feline injury to the flocks, but am concerned about the felines getting injured.
Poison is out of the question because of the dogs and neighborhood kitties. And kiddies, unfortunately. << Having issues with those little buggers breaking in as well. *sigh* That calls for electric fences, surveillance cameras and a stack of preprinted trespassing tickets
What would you recommend to nip this problem in the bud? I want to create a rodent nightmare zone without impacting my animal troop.
Thank you for any and all advice!
