What do I do about all of the RATS in my coop?

[Katy]

Quote:
I tried all the different plaster of paris recipes.....all it did was make them fatter and they pooped white rat turds.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
I agree with Shellyd......the only way to get rid of a large population is with poison. Rats are very smart and for me, once they saw what the snap traps and the other types of traps did to their buddies they avoided them completely. I knew they were consuming a lot of feed, but I had no idea how much it truely was until they were gone.......my feed bill has gone down since the rats aren't chowing down all the time.

 

[justtoni44]

Just wanted to support the one bite suggestion.
We were overwhelmed with rats and ground squirrles.
They killed some of my 6 to 8 wekk old chicks..................
and one of my roosters was torn up fighting them.........
We tried every suggestion I found one BYC......Then got one bite..
My DH used plastic milk crates, ran wire through the holes with several one bite cakes attatched............
then set them upside down with something heavy on top to keep them from being tipped over.
We hit them hard.setting out a lot all at once................
Solved the problem in record time.
Also took care of the ground squirrles.
We did catch about 6 of our chickens eating a dead squirrel.
I really reacted thinking they would be dead the next day.
They were fine......and someone on here expained the ingredients to me...............
Good Luck

 

[TrystInn]

Barn cat. Mine catches 3 or 4 a day and even hunts on our neighbors' properties, so she's very popular in our neighborhood.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
THats a dang good idea! We just saw a rat here the other day too.

 

[alabamachick]

I read this thinking, "psha get a barn cat!" you can tell I'm more of a horse person than chicken person... it took me typing out "get a barn cat" to realize said cat would probably eat chickens...

How does the posion work without the chickens eating it??

 

[lilchick]

I agree use poison! If you remove chicken feed the rats will resort to eating chickens, easy takings at night!!

I moved my chickens when I saw tunnels in their dirt floor coop. I moved them back when problem was solved.

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

Whatever you do, do it quick!
I have lost 4 chicks this past month. 2 of them were killed in the coop and we found (what was left of) the bodies in the morning. We have a mean rooster and several cats who hunt on our property. We set snap traps up after the second chick (a 6 week old who was nothing but feet, feathers, and bones when we found it) but we haven't caught the demon yet.
And during the time it killed my peeps it could just as easily have taken eggs or feed, but instead it killed my little ones. I'll have its head yet!

 

[secuono]

They have reusable black plastic snap traps. If you buy the bigger tubes of pvc, you can place the trap inside[chickens can't reach it] and place the tube along the walls. Or if you know where they are getting in, close it off, place tubes w/ends covered and a trap inside. If you use poison, you will have to have it covered, tube, box, ect so the chickens can't get in. Something like a gel and heavy box so it doesn't spill out and the chickens can't flip it over. If you get a cat, you'd have to know it's chicken safe. Whacking a cat on the butt when it's still young and stalking a chicken will get it to leave them alone. Did that w/one of my cats, she doesn't even look at the chickens, even chicks that run around. But mice, she just goes nuts over, doing her best to get at them and the nests. Shes a tiny cat though, a rat would prolly scare the crud outta her.

 

[BrewedInNh]

Quote:
I tried all the different plaster of paris recipes.....all it did was make them fatter and they pooped white rat turds.

"white rat turds" Sorry for laughing but that's funny.

Good to know, I won't waste my time with that. Glad I haven't had any real rat problems so far. My pump up pellet rifle worked fine and I have larger caliber guns if needed.