Dry ice to kill rats

[rivardda]

my 10 chickens have a 2000 sf run to play in. They will be outside until the coop is aired in the evening (assuming that the CO2 part was the dangerous part).

I just made an attempt at this. I previously wiped out almost all the rats just using icy water but now that temperatures are up I tried the dry ice. My process:

1) Somewhere near mid-day leaf blower all around the coop to expose the rat holes.
2) Clear any crud out of the holes, you want them clear to dump in CO2.
3) go get 20 lb of dry ice "chunks" (about the size of hockey pucks). $40 for me.
4) Fill a wheelbarrow with dirt. during this time the rats go back to sleep
5) Smash the dry ice with a blunt instrument. I used an old axe handle. Baseball bat would be better.
6) With thick gloves, go around to each hole dumping in the dry ice fragments, then quickly shovel your dirt on top of each, stomp it a few times.

I stayed out there for 30 minutes with the shovel to see if any made a run for it. None did. I think they're all dead. Will update here if they are not.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Great write up. Sounds like a great way to wipe out a rat colony.

Wiith the rats gone how long before a new batch of rats move into the now undefended territory?

At $40.00 per treatment, in three treatments you have paid for a good treadle feeder that solves the problem for ten years or longer if you keep the feeder up out of the muck so it doesn't rust out. Patch the bottom and it would last a lifetime other than replacing springs.

Then you haven't dealt with the wild birds stealing feed.