Dry, uncooked, instant mashed potatoes...

[colleen4nier]

I am having a major problem with rats. I have tried every kind of trap I can find/make from youtube videos. Snap traps and poison are not an option.

I poured a baking soda concoction into the rat holes and found two dead the following morning. The concoction was a mix of baking soda, corn meal, and whole wheat flour. I found some blogs that say feeding the rats dried instant potatoes works excellent. The rats gorge on the stuff, then drink water and their bellies swell and explode. I just made a new concoction of baking soda, rice baby cereal, flour, corn meal, and instant potatoes. I used a funnel to get it as deep in the holes as possible and covered them with a leaning barricade to keep the chickens out of it.

My research shows the baking soda (although not great for them) won't hurt them. I'm curious about the other swelling foods though, like the rice cereal and potatoes. If it swells in their crop, could it hurt them?

BTW, spring is right around the corner. I live in an area with a very heavy copperhead population. They are the most common snake around here. I have kids and pets. Rats need to go before the snakes come out of hibernation. If I start getting copperheads, the chickens will have to go.

 

[7acres]

I don’t know about potatoes. I have always had good success with the old fashioned wooden based Victor traps and peanut butter. Caught everyone I set for. When I was a kid folks would get overrun and would plug up as many holes as they could find then run a hose from the exhaust into the hole and any that made it out would get shot. I tried the newer plastic ones that work like a clothespin. They are nice and more sanitary but just gave them a headache. I am sure with all the knowledge on here someone will have a solution.

 

[RevRico]

Mix corn meal with concrete dust and put it out. They'll leave you tracks to their nest, and the concrete dust will start to cure inside their system killing them with little risk to any pets that might eat the rats.

If you're mechanically inclined, I have a design for a motion activated compressed air powered trap. It's worked in the past, but it's a but on the dangerous side.

 

[colleen4nier]

I don’t know about potatoes. I have always had good success with the old fashioned wooden based Victor traps and peanut butter. Caught everyone I set for. When I was a kid folks would get overrun and would plug up as many holes as they could find then run a hose from the exhaust into the hole and any that made it out would get shot. I tried the newer plastic ones that work like a clothespin. They are nice and more sanitary but just gave them a headache. I am sure with all the knowledge on here someone will have a solution.

Thanks. If all else fails I may have to go that route, but it presents a lot of challenges. My chickens free range. The holes to their burrow is right against the foundation of my home, a few feet from the chicken coops. I have a dog that does his business out there. I also have a pet squirrel. To set the traps, I would have to do it each night, in the dark, after I locked up the chickens, and I would have to take the dog out on a leash to make sure he didn't break his nose. Then I would have to remove the traps first thing in the morning, before letting the chickens out. That means danger to me and my smell would be all over the traps. You can't just use one or two, you need to set up a minimum of 12. There has to be a better way.

I seriously considered poisoning them with CO2, but some say it can be pretty dangerous and the smell of the rotting corpses will be dreadful.

 

[colleen4nier]

Mix corn meal with concrete dust and put it out. They'll leave you tracks to their nest, and the concrete dust will start to cure inside their system killing them with little risk to any pets that might eat the rats.

If you're mechanically inclined, I have a design for a motion activated compressed air powered trap. It's worked in the past, but it's a but on the dangerous side.

Not mechanically inclined. I saw the compression traps but they are way too expensive. I know exactly where their holes are and their traffic pattern. I put a bunch of the concoction in their nest today with a funnel. I hope I wake up to dozen dead rats

 

[7acres]

Thanks. If all else fails I may have to go that route, but it presents a lot of challenges. My chickens free range. The holes to their burrow is right against the foundation of my home, a few feet from the chicken coops. I have a dog that does his business out there. I also have a pet squirrel. To set the traps, I would have to do it each night, in the dark, after I locked up the chickens, and I would have to take the dog out on a leash to make sure he didn't break his nose. Then I would have to remove the traps first thing in the morning, before letting the chickens out. That means danger to me and my smell would be all over the traps. You can't just use one or two, you need to set up a minimum of 12. There has to be a better way.

I seriously considered poisoning them with CO2, but some say it can be pretty dangerous and the smell of the rotting corpses will be dreadful.

I am not sure you need that many traps. You could use a couple and keep resetting them. Rats like to hide. You might use a plastic container or make a long wooded box. Cut a hole of the plastic and set your trap inside baited and maybe a little extra feed. Rats have many tunnels and holes so you might not have as many as you think unless you have seen them. A cover will keep chickens out. I say you might not have as many as you think because of the old saying, “It’s a poor rat that has but one hole”.

 

[colleen4nier]

I am not sure you need that many traps. You could use a couple and keep resetting them. Rats like to hide. You might use a plastic container or make a long wooded box. Cut a hole of the plastic and set your trap inside baited and maybe a little extra feed. Rats have many tunnels and holes so you might not have as many as you think unless you have seen them. A cover will keep chickens out. I say you might not have as many as you think because of the old saying, “It’s a poor rat that has but one hole”.

I know I have at least 16 of them. I opened up my grill and found 12 adults had invaded it over the winter. I fed the pinkies to my chickens and cleaned it out, sterilized it, and filled it with mint to keep them from coming back into it. While I was disinfecting the grill, I pulled my garden hose out of my hose box, and found another four adults had built a nest in there.

The first night I threw them a party. I put out beer for them. Two got drunk and died. They seemed to have smartened up, because now they won't touch it.

I found four holes right away, and another one has surfaced today.

 

[Mosey2003]

It's a little bit of money, but you could get a rat zapper. Look for them on Amazon. They go in for the bait and it electrocutes them. Only issue is, you gotta watch is because it needs to be reset after each rat.

 

[colleen4nier]

It's a little bit of money, but you could get a rat zapper. Look for them on Amazon. They go in for the bait and it electrocutes them. Only issue is, you gotta watch is because it needs to be reset after each rat.

I looked at those, they are not safe for outside use. They are only for inside. My issue is outside

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

Have you tried the bucket of water trap?