Ughh, rats! Help me convince my husband to poison them!

[HouseMouseHens]

Hello, I need help.
We have a rat problem this spring in our yard. We have both chickens and ducks, and now RATS. We pull the food up at night, but they are out during the day scaring the ducks (who are scared of EVERYTHING) and eating the food constantly! My husband won't use poison because he worries that they don't die immediately, and that you need to find all the dead ones and dispose of them. He says dead rats is how the plague got started so he wont poison them and potentially have dead rats under the coop where he can't get to them. He is convinced that the best option is to buy a BB gun and sit out and shoot them all. His logic is a bit flawed, but I love him anyways.

I went out to change the huge metal bin we have for swimming water for the ducks, and when I dumped it out there were three dead rats at the bottom. YUCK! So my question is, what should we do? I have a place that the chickens and ducks can't get to in the yard tro put out poison, but I am wondering what you who use poison do about the dead ones? You can't possibly find them all right? I read somewhere that one person got a 55 gallon barrel without a lid and put a board up to it for the rats to walk up and put food in the barrel to attract them, then the rats fell in and couldn't get out. My husbands thought on that is that we could put either poison or water in the barrel so the rats die or drown. Not sure I want to deal with a big bucket of dead rats soaked in water. So maybe a bunch of food scraps and poison? We could put it in this enclosed pen we are not using right now, so no other animals besides the rats could get to it. Would that work?

 

[keesmom]

I've used the bucket method with mice. Slather some peanut butter just out of reach inside the bucket, fill with some water and provide a ramp. Check frequently. I've also used conventional traps, but they only catch one at a time. No poison here, as I don't want them dying in the walls.

If you're seeing them that often then you should do something soon.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I've used the bucket trap with mice as well, it was a HUGE success. I used BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) instead of PB, though. Just cover the surface of the water with them.

If you have an empty pen, I'd set it with a bucket trap and leave it until you don't catch anymore. As long as you're baiting in a bucket deep enough for them NOT to get out of, I don't see that it matters if you use water or poison. Good luck!

 

[aart]

I've used the bucket trap, with spinning can, for mice and it's awesome. Just used an old slotted spoon to retrieve bodies each day or so and fling them out into the woods.

 

[Kelsie2290]

I've used the 5 gal bucket trap with mice and chipmunks and it works very well with those. The 5 gal bucket does not work so well with big rats as they can get out of it. You need something better than two feet tall for rats ime to get it to work, a regular yard garbage can or 55 gal drum works. A fish landing net is the easiest thing I've found to fish out the drowned rats. Not sure what you mean by poison in the barrel? One thing with the barrel method is be sure where you set it up you don't have any pets that can get into it and drown, put 2x4 wire or something similar over it with holes big enough for rats to get easily through but small enough your pets can not.... or you can actually leave the barrel dry and as long as the sides are high and slippery enough they can't climb out you can catch the rats, and well, then shoot rats in a barrel.
We have a big rat problem at certain times of the year (when they harvest the fields around us in the fall) and we have poison out all year in the barn and yard area. We use the electronic RatZappers near the house and garage etc... if you do not want to poison you might check into those. However, if you have a large established rat population, I do not think you can shoot, zap or drown them fast enough to get the population under control.... remember if you see one there are ten you did not see... and you are going to wind up resorting to poison sooner or later. Also, rats are smart and they get used to or get wise to all the various ways people try to kill them, so it is usually best to use multiple methods at once.

 

[Suzie]

We have a rat problem here and we find the best method is to poison them.. we ensure that all poisoned grain is in non-accessible areas to the chickens... we dispose of any rats that are dead or dying so that the chickens cannot access them,.. it is not easy but is extremely effective.

 

[FenikT]

The bucket/barrel water trap is probably the safest & most effective thing for your situation.

If you want some instant gratification, build a box trap (several baited rat traps covered by a sturdy box (like a clear plastic tote) w/ an opening large enough to fit a rat).

As far as your husband's recollection of how the Plague got started, it wasn't from dead rats. It was from the fleas carried on rats.

 

[appps]

Not sure I want to deal with a big bucket of dead rats soaked in water.

That would be why they invented husbands lol


I'm thinking I'm going to do the water with our mice I know are in our coop. I've tried traps to no avail and am a bit nervous about poison on something edible size.

I will definatly be giving the emptying job to hubby though. Ewww

 

[CluckCluck18]

I'm having a rat problem, too. We are loaded with them in Florida because of all the citrus.
My Weimaraner has been chasing a bunch of them and killed one that got into the henhouse....her new name is Rat Patrol!
I have been reading about bobcat urine.....which is supposed to keep rats away. Has anyone heard of this and or tried it. I'm curious to see if anyone had any luck with it. :/

 

[appps]

I'm having a rat problem, too. We are loaded with them in Florida because of all the citrus.
My Weimaraner has been chasing a bunch of them and killed one that got into the henhouse....her new name is Rat Patrol!
I have been reading about bobcat urine.....which is supposed to keep rats away. Has anyone heard of this and or tried it. I'm curious to see if anyone had any luck with it. :/

I'm curious who is brave enough to follow the bobcat round collecting it!! Lol