Discuss all aspects of raising poultry. No topic is too small
Rats
Spotted two rats up at the duck pen today eating some of the scraps I'd left for the ducks, My brother and I have dealt with them at this stage but was wondering (in case there are more), are they dangerous towards poultry and would they attack the birds?
conormc96
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 Yeah, I lost 8 fully grown bantams to them.
Ray C
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 I'll set more traps so, they didn't seem to be interested in the ducks or hens but they'll soon learn I suppose. Thanks for the advice and sorry to hear that.
conormc96
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 Yes i lost chicks to them :(
Tatebane
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 if you want to no i had the same problem 2 years ago rats robbing the eggs it is funny to watch them rob eggs cause one sits on the ground the other one throws down the egg and then drags the other one with the egg back to its den .what i did was purcased 2 minacure terrers and a cat. the two dogs a very small they will run in 2 the whole and run out then rats and the cat will catch the rats as many as she can get do this for two weeks every second day if you cant find the whole brake an egg give it to the dogs they will find whole with the small of broken eggs then get a fresh mixs of concert and fill in the whole or leave flour mixed with honey and concert in a bag under leaves near whole they will smell it and eat then the cocert will harden and kill the rats
john person
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 We've got rats, they dig under the closed run to get in. At the moment I'm putting bait in jam/coffee jars placed on strips of cardboard near where they're passing into the little run. Idea is that the jars can be picked up and sealed safely and any spillage is contained on the cardboard and removable so no risk to birds when I let them out.
Not my idea btw.
gentian
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 john, iam not slagging your spelling (iam not the best either) but could you please read over what you have written before you hit the "submit button" as i find it very hard to make out what you have written. ta.
pearl
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 sorry what i ment was fence of that patch wre whole away from hens and other farm animale till rats are killed good idea with the jars and carboard but what will jam do if you mix concert it will harden up and kill the rat on the spot
john person
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 If you find a hole in a wall or similar solid surface that rats are coming through, seal it up with broken glass and then cement, or use the bottom of a bottle or jar and seal it over. Rats will chew through cement or even concrete if motivated but they can't get through smooth glass, and broken glass is likely to cause serious injury, which coupled with bait should be fatal :D
gentian
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 wre=were,concert= concrete, whole =hole.
concrete wont kill "on the spot" it just gradualy swells up inside them over time ,an they die, same if you mix plaster with any dry food they like to eat.
pearl
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 John, some punctuation would help, hope you don't mind me saying so
maggie
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 Cement in feed is a handy idea that I'll pass on to people I know who have a serious rat problem, they seem very resistant to the usual poisons. ;D
gentian
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 i find the plaster or bonding is better, for some reason its gone quicker than cement, i mix it with muselie,porridge oats, currants ,raisins,anything that can be coated with the powder an doesent make them suspect it.
pearl
Thursday, April 12th, 2012 do you mix the plaster or cement dry with the feed?
cha
Thursday, April 12th, 2012 you need to put out rat traps every so often for a few days, or a good feed of poison for a few nights every month to keep down the rats, and its also no harm to keep a good cat about, i had ducks down the field from the house, didnt do any of the above until i noticed rat runs around the duck house, in and out of holes in the wall, i started putting out traps and killed 18 rats in a month,i couldnt believe that there was so many around the place, if u think you have 2, i can bet u have a scatter of the f**k*rs !!
seamus m
Thursday, April 12th, 2012 yes, mix in dry, just enough to give a good coating, too much , an its too dusty ,an they wont bother, peanut butter or chocolate spread in the traps is good too.
pearl
Thursday, April 12th, 2012 thanks a lot.they seem to be a huge problem with everybody this year.
cha
Thursday, April 12th, 2012 this is the first year ive had them.. I knocked a few off with the air rifle.. they did take poison but they kept taking pills it and i thought they were hiding it and not eating it..
aknight745
Thursday, April 12th, 2012 Don,t and can,t use poison here,i have two traps in place all the time her so they are part of the landscape and don,t smell strange when i see signs that a rats about then i bait them,might take a few days to catch but they have,nt failed yet,last one i caught was in January.
Important to make sure there is no waste feed around as when they find an easy source they move in big time.
Jemsey
Thursday, April 12th, 2012 Well we've burnt out their little tunneling system beside the duck pen several times and I've set up a few rat traps around the area, so I'm waiting for more to come
conormc96
Thursday, April 12th, 2012 Hi all it is important to put all poison in a tamper proof box to ensure other animals to not get it. I am a professional pest controler and use poison and traps every day. Lots of people have ideas on how to make a mixture with something but if your dog, cat or even chicken gets it they will be sure to die! At least with poison there is a cure for it, so if your dog, cat or chicken gets it they can be cured. Note to everyone to use poison in safe containers. If anyone wants advice on a rodent problem please send me a pm.
Kieran L
Thursday, April 12th, 2012 Good advice Kieran.
Rho b
Thursday, April 12th, 2012 Thanks Kieran, I don't have a dog or cat, I've set out two small rat traps and a large one for the night, I'll see if I have anything in the morning.
conormc96
Thursday, April 12th, 2012 use that over and under your bro has
cianf
Monday, April 16th, 2012 Kieran
What is the "cure" for poison? Does this cure work on chickens and dogs?
By the way I use storm (storm = rat poison brandname - for other readers), I am always careful to grind the cubes into powder so the rats can't roll the cubes away. Furthermore, I only place the poison in a sewer pipe or down a rat hole where no other animals can get at it. I always leave water close by. I found that if they have no water to drink they may be unaffected by the poison, I have even found blue mouse droppings in my shed before I started leaving water close to the poision.
paul (mullingar)
Monday, April 16th, 2012 I use the same method paul as in grinding up the blocks. Otherwise I drill holes in them and hang them on wires in a wavin pipe so they have to eat them in situ. The newer blocks have partial holes already pre-drilled in them.
Rho b
Monday, April 16th, 2012
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Rats
Spotted two rats up at the duck pen today eating some of the scraps I'd left for the ducks, My brother and I have dealt with them at this stage but was wondering (in case there are more), are they dangerous towards poultry and would they attack the birds?
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
Yeah, I lost 8 fully grown bantams to them.
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
I'll set more traps so, they didn't seem to be interested in the ducks or hens but they'll soon learn I suppose. Thanks for the advice and sorry to hear that.
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
Yes i lost chicks to them :(
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
if you want to no i had the same problem 2 years ago rats robbing the eggs it is funny to watch them rob eggs cause one sits on the ground the other one throws down the egg and then drags the other one with the egg back to its den .what i did was purcased 2 minacure terrers and a cat. the two dogs a very small they will run in 2 the whole and run out then rats and the cat will catch the rats as many as she can get do this for two weeks every second day if you cant find the whole brake an egg give it to the dogs they will find whole with the small of broken eggs then get a fresh mixs of concert and fill in the whole or leave flour mixed with honey and concert in a bag under leaves near whole they will smell it and eat then the cocert will harden and kill the rats
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
We've got rats, they dig under the closed run to get in. At the moment I'm putting bait in jam/coffee jars placed on strips of cardboard near where they're passing into the little run. Idea is that the jars can be picked up and sealed safely and any spillage is contained on the cardboard and removable so no risk to birds when I let them out.
Not my idea btw.
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
john, iam not slagging your spelling (iam not the best either) but could you please read over what you have written before you hit the "submit button" as i find it very hard to make out what you have written. ta.
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
sorry what i ment was fence of that patch wre whole away from hens and other farm animale till rats are killed good idea with the jars and carboard but what will jam do if you mix concert it will harden up and kill the rat on the spot
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
If you find a hole in a wall or similar solid surface that rats are coming through, seal it up with broken glass and then cement, or use the bottom of a bottle or jar and seal it over. Rats will chew through cement or even concrete if motivated but they can't get through smooth glass, and broken glass is likely to cause serious injury, which coupled with bait should be fatal :D
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
wre=were,concert= concrete, whole =hole.
concrete wont kill "on the spot" it just gradualy swells up inside them over time ,an they die, same if you mix plaster with any dry food they like to eat.
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
John, some punctuation would help, hope you don't mind me saying so
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
Cement in feed is a handy idea that I'll pass on to people I know who have a serious rat problem, they seem very resistant to the usual poisons. ;D
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
i find the plaster or bonding is better, for some reason its gone quicker than cement, i mix it with muselie,porridge oats, currants ,raisins,anything that can be coated with the powder an doesent make them suspect it.
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
do you mix the plaster or cement dry with the feed?
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
you need to put out rat traps every so often for a few days, or a good feed of poison for a few nights every month to keep down the rats, and its also no harm to keep a good cat about, i had ducks down the field from the house, didnt do any of the above until i noticed rat runs around the duck house, in and out of holes in the wall, i started putting out traps and killed 18 rats in a month,i couldnt believe that there was so many around the place, if u think you have 2, i can bet u have a scatter of the f**k*rs !!
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
yes, mix in dry, just enough to give a good coating, too much , an its too dusty ,an they wont bother, peanut butter or chocolate spread in the traps is good too.
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
thanks a lot.they seem to be a huge problem with everybody this year.
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
this is the first year ive had them.. I knocked a few off with the air rifle.. they did take poison but they kept taking pills it and i thought they were hiding it and not eating it..
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
Don,t and can,t use poison here,i have two traps in place all the time her so they are part of the landscape and don,t smell strange when i see signs that a rats about then i bait them,might take a few days to catch but they have,nt failed yet,last one i caught was in January.
Important to make sure there is no waste feed around as when they find an easy source they move in big time.
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
Well we've burnt out their little tunneling system beside the duck pen several times and I've set up a few rat traps around the area, so I'm waiting for more to come
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
Hi all it is important to put all poison in a tamper proof box to ensure other animals to not get it. I am a professional pest controler and use poison and traps every day. Lots of people have ideas on how to make a mixture with something but if your dog, cat or even chicken gets it they will be sure to die! At least with poison there is a cure for it, so if your dog, cat or chicken gets it they can be cured. Note to everyone to use poison in safe containers. If anyone wants advice on a rodent problem please send me a pm.
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
Good advice Kieran.
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
Thanks Kieran, I don't have a dog or cat, I've set out two small rat traps and a large one for the night, I'll see if I have anything in the morning.
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
use that over and under your bro has
Monday, April 16th, 2012
Kieran
What is the "cure" for poison? Does this cure work on chickens and dogs?
By the way I use storm (storm = rat poison brandname - for other readers), I am always careful to grind the cubes into powder so the rats can't roll the cubes away. Furthermore, I only place the poison in a sewer pipe or down a rat hole where no other animals can get at it. I always leave water close by. I found that if they have no water to drink they may be unaffected by the poison, I have even found blue mouse droppings in my shed before I started leaving water close to the poision.
Monday, April 16th, 2012
I use the same method paul as in grinding up the blocks. Otherwise I drill holes in them and hang them on wires in a wavin pipe so they have to eat them in situ. The newer blocks have partial holes already pre-drilled in them.
Monday, April 16th, 2012