I hate rats!

[||Downhome||]

if theres one thing that gives me the hebee jeebe's its RATS!

they breed like crazy get large and are smart!

not all rats I use to have pet rats thats a slight bit different,wild rats whole nother issue with me.

I have my chicks in a kinda chicken tractor, noticed a few days ago something was trying to burrow in, yesterday found one of my fav chicks badly damaged and in shock, tail feathers missing and some of the meat off the tail,well he died was going to be a chicken dinner maybe but its not the point. a few others show some wear but not as bad, the ducks are aware somethings roaming. I looked around for any potential signs. thought it a opposom om maybe even a coon. so I enlarged my coop door to where I could put a live trap in, it has 2x2's that keep it from going side to side as well as up, at the botto of the uprights I drilled a hole in both and a heavy gauge wire like from those yard signs is holding it in place from being slid back.

I noticed where something had been trying to burrow into the run, so game plan set the trap and leave the run open,open invitation to dinner right.

well I go out to un coop everyone and notice something has ben digging in the run and along the coop. then out pops a head! its a decent sized rat!

then I look around and see burrow hole that where not there yesterday so either this is one busy rat or Ive got a few!

so Im going to borrow my freinds jack russles and bring my shadow girl over we going to do some extermination! and then some trap setting after words.

[Jennifer L.]

I hate rats, too! They are the most miserable animals when it comes to destroying your birds. If they just ate grain it would be bad enough, but they have to kill, as well. Nasty!

Hope you get all of them.

Jennifer

[scotrf]

I had a terrible rat infestation a few years back, they just moved in during the winter and did not leave in the spring. to make it worse snakes moved in like you wouldn't believe. it was a race to see who could get the eggs first. i was losing!!! then came the egg bomb. i chip a hole in one end of a egg, suck out most of the white with a syringe and fill egg with rat poison then top off egg with removed white. the first night i made 4 bombs put them in the nest when chickens went to bed. the next morning 2 were gone 2 eaten in the nest just a tiny bit of dried yolk and some pieces of shell left. but the daylight egg stealing was still in full force. so i blocked a nest with chicken wire and put in egg bombs. took about 2 weeks for the bombs to stop disapearing. no more rats or snakes. i still use them as needed. they will spoil and need to be refrigerated if stored. store hole up in a carton not used for anything else. i only make 2-4 at a time so i don't have to store any.

Scot, TX

[Willowynd]

Rats are horrid...I could show you pictures that would make your hair curl. They attacked and killed and ate to the bones several of my birds and even got baby rabbits and one adult rabbit...they eat from the inside and leave the skin of rabbits....the 2 week old babies were just skin and bone fragments. Attacked one of my ducks, so I put the duck in a cage with tiny wire mesh...after a couple weeks when he was well on his way to recovery- the rats ate his feet through the wire! I tried bait that was safe for chickens and other animals...they loved it...would take as many as I put out...but soon as I forgot one night- they would kill. Tried trapping- caught several, shot some...finally went to one bite poison. I didn;t see any for a while, but now seeing a couple...so put the poison back out again last night. So don't think that they will just injure...they will kill and eat them. If you don't believe me...i saved the photos.

[pancho]

I had a rat problem. Since I have quite a few free ranging animals I don't like to use poison. I trapped so man I lost count, they seemed tp multiply faster than I could catch them. Snakes didn't make a dent in the numbers, even the released python that showed up.
I found something that got rid of them for me. I realize not many can use what I did but it sure worked for me.
Argentine black and white tegus. I released a large aggressive female and she took care of the problem. She would hunt at night when the rats were the most active, could go just about anywhere the rats could, and emptied out the nests. Unlike a snake that will only eat a rat every few days or week, she hunted every night.
There were disadvantages though. Her favorites were rats, mice, and those large palmeto bugs (looks like a giant cock roach). She did take some other animals when the rats began to thin out. A few guinea pigs paid the price.
Now she is retired and living in a large pen just waiting for the next time I need her.
She also made a great guard lizard. Not many people would come around after dark when they found out there was a large, aggressive, meat eating lizard free ranging there.
Not many people can do the same as I did but it sure worked.

[mickm]

Just not a big fan of poison. Once you put it down, you have no control over what it kills. In an egg the chickens might eat an egg or who knows what might happen? I don't spray pesticides on my garden, and I don't use poisons on any critters.

In the case of any infestation, and it doesn't matter if it's rats , fleas or in-laws;

You gotta go to war with them.

Don't set 2, 3 or 4 traps, set 100. Borrow a jack russel or even better a jagd terrier and go to battle. if you don't know anyone , there are web sites for folks who have ground going dogs and most folks would love to help you.

Like I said, ya just gotta keep after them, and it can be work, but it will only get worse if ya don't.

[Willowynd]

I am not a fan of poison eiter...if you follow my threads I tried for months to control with trapping, but sometimes it is the only solution. Traps are dangerous as well...I lost a duck to a trap (put its head through the fence and into the trap) and had a turkey with a broken foot from one. Rats figure out baited live traps quickly. My birds range too, but I was able to place the one bite poison under the buildings (where the rats had dug- I stuffed in tunnels and dug out more) where nothing else could reach it. Try borrowing a JRT or other rat dog...I could not locate anyone willing to have one come out....to many they are pets only and would not consider having thier dogs do what they were bred to do...and today many do not have the drive. I seriously considered purchasing one, but decided against it due to my other dogs and not wanting to leave it live in the coops especially with our winters.

[Sanza]

I hope you win the battle with the rats soon. I think theres threads on rat control from earlier this year that might help you.....good luck

[mawalla]

I think my two Great Pyrs and my 6 cats must keep the rat population down around here because I've not had a problem. I do find a few dead ones around, actually, I find parts of dead ones around.

[||Downhome||]

I think your climate helps some too mawalla! they can get by with out any help here and in number and a bit of help and its through the roof!

still working on the problem!

[MaggieJ]

Twice we have had major rat infestations and twice have been rescued by wild predators - a mink the first time and a weasel the second. They took up residence over the the winter and lived on the rat of the land until the rodents ran out. The mink we deported when it started coming into our house but the weasel paid itself with four of our hens before we found out where it was getting in. I was sorry about the hens, but really it was worth the price to get rid of the rats. As far as I know we are rat-free at the moment.

We do use poison from time to time and it does help reduce the population and keep them from getting too aggressive, but for real eRATication, there is nothing like a member of the weasel family.

[SLD Farm]

I do not like poison at all. Too easy for domestic animals/pets to consume.

I have barn cats and have never seen a rat, mice and snakes haven't been seen in years, in the barn. I have one tom cat who sleeps with in the coop in a nest box.

The JRTs should make quick work of any rats. One of my JRTs is quite the hunter. He has cornered 2 opposums and 2 coons this year.

[pancho]

Anyone ever thought of letting a ferret loose around their barn to keep down vermin?

[MaggieJ]

I've thought of it. It's probably illegal... and there is no guarantee it wouldn't start in on the poultry. I suppose a tame, trained ferret might work. A mink from a mink farm might work as well. At least that way you would not be introducing an exotic animal.