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[Badbaby05]

Pellet guns work too

 

[mommto3kiddos]

Looking online I found some Mat Midwest Air Tech 308200B 36-Inch-by-50-Foot 1/2-Inch Mesh 19-Gauge Hardware Cloth.. Its a bit $$, but if it keeps the rats out.. Ive only seen this one in the 5 years we have lived here.. Would this be a good investment instead of using the regular chicken wire I got???

 

[Emmalion]

Anything is better than chicken wire.

Remember chicken wire will only keep chickens in or out of an area but anything else can tear right through it.

 

[Emmalion]

check your local home depot or lowels they have some pretty good prices on hardwire cloth

 

[Celtic Chick]

Quote:
Much better investment. Chicken wire will cost the money to buy it plus more money to replace your chickens. Sorry but it is true. Rats will go right through chicken wire like it was nothing.

 

[TomG]

I saw a post once for trapping weasles that was good. They put a snap trap inside a wood box with a hole too small for cats, chickens and such. The rat can get into it, peanut butter will attract it. Wire live traps are too easy for rats to get out of due to the gaps around the door.

 

[RayinGa]

In a rat colony there is always an alpha male. My suggestion is that you put out a snap trap with bait on it (peanut butter works good). Don't set it and let them take the bait a few times. Then when you set it you will catch the alpha male first and the rest will follow. Also you can buy bait boxes to put poison in so the neighborhood animals won't get to it. Good luck.

 

[paddock36]

Do you have a pen or dog kennel with big enough wire that the rats can get in but the dogs can not? If you do put a light on it and put rat poison in a bowl inside. We did this (accidentally) and it worked. It attracted the rats and they ate all the poison....then no more rats.

 

[Kate in CT]

I've always been afraid to use poison to kill rats/mice because I'm afraid of what could happen if something else eats the poisoned vermin. I've checked and I've yet to find a company which guarantees no secondary toxicity. Because of that, I've always used snap traps. Just my two cents.

Good luck getting rid of the rats. They can and will destroy your chicks. When I was a kid we had a "chick coop" that wasn't nearly secure enough . . .six out of eight babies were taken. I don't wish the experience on anyone!

 

[BWKatz]

You can also get the 1/4" hardware cloth online at CSN in 25, 50 and 100 ft lengths atr a pretty good price. When I got mine they also had free shipping. Good luck with your chicks.