The Old Folks Home

[chickadoodles]

 

[ronott1]

I haven't seen any rats, but am fighting the field mice and moles. If I open a nest box after dark, it seems there is always one of those beady-eyed little monsters in there! And I'll admit, I'm scared of them. They give me the willies. But I did beat one to death the other day... serves him right for running out into the open where I could see him.

Hubby had made this trap, and I thought it looked great, but so far, none are taking the bait. (well, I didn't check it this morning). I believe I need to try some better enticements. I have peanut butter in there, and added some scratch grains yesterday. The chickens can't get into these, so I put one in the run that I've seen the most mice in.



A regular large snap trap will fit in here, but I figured that's only good for one mouse. The glue tray "could" catch several.

Great idea!

We started feeding the stray cat and now we have rats.

Rats are big in size compared to a cat. Terrier dogs are called rat terriers for a reason! I have seen videos of them digging out rat nests with a very single minded vengeance.

Has anyone ever tried one of these...do they work or do you just end up with a soaked have drowned rat you still have to kill?

I tried this with rats. Our rats were too big to get stuck in a five gallon bucket. I would need a fifty gallon drum for them!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

The bucket traps work okay but only for small rats and mice.

Beware... others like the trap, too.

 

[microchick]

X2 on the Terrier dog, @Ronott1 our Jack Russell mix has holes dug all over our pasture and yard in her quest to rid us of mice, voles, moles and whatever else she can dig up. Single minded is an understatement. Her enthusiasm borderlines obsessive compulsive in nature and it's hysterical to see her buried up to her hips with just her butt and tail sticking out of a hole with muffled barking coming out of the hole. She does a good job, have to give her credit, even if the end result is dozens of ankle buster holes all over the place.

I did a walk around this morning after I let the birds out in the run. No sign of any rat sized tunnel holes. The skirt of the portable coop is metal and goes to the ground. One side is even "under" ground' but there are a few gaps where varmints if they are small enough, can squeeze through making me wonder if that isn't where they are holed up.

Until I can get to town and pick up a bag of either sand mix concrete or plaster patch, my plan is to put out the Tomcat bait trap overnight along with the small have a heart trap. I'll bring in the outside feeder and rake the area of the run that inevitably gets some food residue in it and see what happens.

BTW GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!

It's sunny and pleasant here today. A perfect fall/Indian Summer day ahead of us. I overslept this morning. DH was up by 5 and I didn't haul myself out of bed till 8. I feel so guilty when I sleep in, but given my history of Lyme Disease and chronic back pain I keep telling myself that if my body didn't need the rest I wouldn't be sleeping so late.

So much for needing less sleep as you age.

 

[bruceha2000]

I don't think they make any replacement parts for my model.

SURE they do!
Aunt had hips replaced 2 years ago, she is 83.
Uncle had knee replacement 3 years ago, he will be 82 in December
My dad had an ankle replaced 2 years ago, he will be 88 in 2 days

haven't sent a card!!!!!!
Father in law had knee replacement 5 years ago, he is 91.

Welcome to the old folks home

Originally Posted by Kusanar

I'm totally grossed and trust me I'm pretty gross-proof.

I'd noticed a suspicious hole near my grow out coop. It was in a fenced area where it was safe for dogs and Chickens so I dumped a piece of 'one bite'down the hole, back filled the hole and didn't think much more of it till I went out tonight to lock up the birds and found a half dead rat trying to break into the grow out pen. My broody who is still with her 7 week old chicks was going freakin nutz and I can't blame her. I had a piece of oak in the run that I had been using for roosts. The rat was easily dispatched and burried. Thank goodness it wasn't very big but it is the first rat I've seen on the farm. I guess I always knew it was a matter of time, especially since feed is around. But man, I HATE those little beggers.

Guess it's time to put bait traps out in the barn and buy some mechanical traps to set out of harms way. Hopefully if there were more they found the bait also.

Three cheers for my broody for recognizing danger and keeping her 'kids' safe.

Surprised your hen didn't attack the rat. When Zorra was raising the 7 chicks last year she was a tasmanian devil. There were 2 other hens that were allowed within 6 feet of the chicks. One was a broken broody that hung around and helped raise them (though they would NEVER sleep with her, or next to her when they hit the roost at 4 weeks). The other is my favorite, a doofus BA. She is so intent on following her beak she would wander near the babies and Zorra would start to flare then I guess she figured out Echo wasn't paying any attention to the chicks at all so no problem when Echo wandered through the group. But the REAL protecting: one day Zorra, "Auntie" and the chicks were outside and a woodchuck came out of a hole at least 15 feet away and started walking, not remotely toward them. Zorra and "Auntie" chased that sucker back to its hole as fast as its little legs could carry its fat body.

 

[pennyJo1960]

@Kusanar most of us decent dog trainers would say she deserved being bit
some people do not have any common sense

 

[Kusanar]

@Kusanar most of us decent dog trainers would say she deserved being bit
some people do not have any common sense

True, but, if she wasn't good natured about it, she could have sued, and probably won, he's been saved from being put down for biting once, probably wouldn't be lucky again if animal control got involved. Also, my dad is watching him for a few days near Christmas (planned and room booked before this problem), if he just goes after his feet, he'll be ok, dad'll just boot him back in his cage, but if he actually draws blood, I would be surprised if the little rat survived...

I work with enough people to know that most people don't have common sense, and even if Buzz was semi justified, he is endangering himself with his actions. He was an emotional wreck when I got him, I couldn't touch him for the first week I had him without him snarling at me... now I can rough house with him and toss and smack him around when we're playing and he's fine with it... I thought he was pretty much "fixed"

 

[perchie.girl]

We have been here on our farm for about three years and this is the first year we have had rats. Big ones too. It is traps for me. I set them in the evening when all the birds have been put up for the night and secure them in the a.m. before I let the birds out. So far this year we have caught three rats and the traps are set again tonight because early this a.m. I saw another one running across the chicken run toward the coops.

Something strange about this years is not only a bunch of rats but armadillos, opossums, snakes of all size and levels of poisonous, and predator birds. A lot more that in years past.

When rodents come so do the predators...

I would examine your food bags and storage....

deb

 

[getaclue]

Has anyone ever tried one of these...do they work or do you just end up with a soaked have drowned rat you still have to kill?

I tried this one, and it may work for mice, but didn't work for rats.

 

[getaclue]

When I was having rat problems, (they were building across the street, so it stirred up the rat population) I put out a good bit of one bite where the chickens couldn't get to it, and within 2 days it cured the rat problem.