Will rats kill baby chicks?

[chickmom3941]

I had rather smell a dead rat a few days than see him running around and in the chicken feed, coop, etc. I would gas them---if it was that bad----just have to make sure the Smokers were not lighting up. Boom!!

Rats (plural), not just one rat. There would probably be a fair amount of dead carcasses. I suppose you're right though - we really must get rid of them, even if we have to wear gas masks around the yard till they decompose! Ugh. Gas them? What do you mean?

 

[kwhites634]

Hi, and thanks for your suggestion. I have considered poison, but I'm afraid that our dog might find and eat a rat that has been killed by it. I don't suppose there is any kind of poison that would kill the rats, but not our dog, is there?

Yep! Lead poisoning, most effectively administered via rifle or shotgun

 

[chickmom3941]

Yep! Lead poisoning, most effectively administered via rifle or shotgun

Lol - you're funny! I have definitely thought about trying to shoot them with a bb gun or pellet gun, though I'm not sure how effective I would be...

 

[Chickielady]

If you have chickens, you must lock your coops at dusk.
Do not leave feed out, do not leave water out if you can help it.
Rats (and mice) can spread disease as well as eat ALOT of feed, and thus reproduce.
Big roof rats can and will dine on baby birds especially at night when the hen is blind in darkness.
Not to mention that racoons, possums and stoat & mink are right there to help the rats dine.
A coop left open at night is also subject to owls.
I have a friend in BC that tells the story of sending her daughter (10 years old) out to the coop to collect eggs one winter morning at about 6 am.
The girl returned saying there was a giant mean bird in the coop !
She went out to see what the girl was talking about, and there indeed , was a great horned owl (she says about as tall as her breasts !) and in one clentched claw was a hen, still shrieking...and the owl walked out of the coop, hen on 1 foot...she backed away and let the owl go, off he flew into the darkness.
Moral of the story is, even if you have a great fence around your coop...predators will still get in !
There is food in there !
LOCK your coop at dusk !
(everyone loves chicken !)

 

[kwhites634]

I'm not sure what they are eating now. Once spring came and I could let the chickens out, I moved all food out of the coop and attached pen. I now feed the chickens in the yard, far from the coop. I tried a "have a heart" trap - couldn't get any rats to go in. We tried some good old fashioned rat traps (like big mouse traps) and caught about 3-4 rats, but then no more rats were caught. Then I bought one of those battery operated rat zappers, which killed one rat, and no more. I think they get wise to the devices that kill them, and avoid them. Believe me, I've really considered a bb gun (or do you think a pellet gun is better?), but don't know if I could hit any. I even considered putting our two cats in the pen (not coop) at night, but was worried the cats might catch a disease from the rats. Do you think so? Our cats are great hunters, especially the one we named Ozzy - he was a stray that "adopted" us.

Don't waste money on a BB gun; get a pellet gun with enough punch to use for squirrel hunting, then practice until you're proficient with it.

 

[PD-Riverman]

. Gas them? What do you mean?

Very carefully!!! LOL. I would!! I would find rat holes and stick/seal a hose in them attached to a tank and turn the tank on a few minutes then move to the next hole, etc.

 

[sylviethecochin]

To get rid of vermin, Dad used to just park the tractor in the shed, close all the doors and windows, and let it run for a few hours.

Carbon Monoxide. Gotta love it.

The most effective trap I ever built was a plastic feed barrel with a board leaning against it, with a peanut butter trail leading the way up. Mice and rats climbed in for the feed and couldn't get out. The cat loved it.

As a simple deterrent, try putting cat feces and urine under or around the coop. Unless you have X-treme Ratz, they'll probably lay low for a while while the chicks mature a bit.

And yes, I've never tried it, but a light in the coop sounds like a great idea.

 

[chickmom3941]

If you have chickens, you must lock your coops at dusk.
Do not leave feed out, do not leave water out if you can help it.
Rats (and mice) can spread disease as well as eat ALOT of feed, and thus reproduce.
Big roof rats can and will dine on baby birds especially at night when the hen is blind in darkness.
Not to mention that racoons, possums and stoat & mink are right there to help the rats dine.
A coop left open at night is also subject to owls.
I have a friend in BC that tells the story of sending her daughter (10 years old) out to the coop to collect eggs one winter morning at about 6 am.
The girl returned saying there was a giant mean bird in the coop !
She went out to see what the girl was talking about, and there indeed , was a great horned owl (she says about as tall as her breasts !) and in one clentched claw was a hen, still shrieking...and the owl walked out of the coop, hen on 1 foot...she backed away and let the owl go, off he flew into the darkness.
Moral of the story is, even if you have a great fence around your coop...predators will still get in !
There is food in there !
LOCK your coop at dusk !
(everyone loves chicken !)

Wow, your owl story almost gave me "the willies" - scary! Oh, I absolutely close the coop tighter than a drum every night, and there is no feed in there at all this time of year. I do keep a water dish in there, though for the ladies and the gent.

 

[chickmom3941]

Don't waste money on a BB gun; get a pellet gun with enough punch to use for squirrel hunting, then practice until you're proficient with it.

I think my son might have a pellet gun - I'll have to ask him. It would be so epic if I could get rid of all of the rats that way!

 

[chickmom3941]

Very carefully!!! LOL. I would!! I would find rat holes and stick/seal a hose in them attached to a tank and turn the tank on a few minutes then move to the next hole, etc.

But what kind of gas? The only problem is, the rats live under the coop so I wouldn't want any residual fumes to kill my chickens!