Effective Homemade Rodent Bait?

[ChookieG]

Hi guys, has anyone tried any homemade rodent bait that's effective and less harmful to pets? I've tried the baking soda bait but not sure whether it was effective. There seems to be 5 possible types of rodent poison baits according to this website: https://rodentguide.com/homemade-rat-poison/. Has anyone tried them?

 

[cmom]

I have tried many different things for rats. I had a coop that was infested. When I renovated it I found several rat nests in the ceiling and walls and dozens of rats of all sizes poured out when I tore out the ceiling and the walls. Our barn is behind the coops and I had seen some evidence of rats being in the barn. I also noticed tunnels around the coops and barn which I think the rats made. I bought some rat bait stations and some bait. The rats didn't care for the bait that came with the bait stations so I bought some different bait. They liked the new bait. As long as you are responsible poison can be used without harm. I put the bait stations with the bait into pet carriers so that only the rats could get to it and put the pet carriers up on shelves so again, nothing but the rats could get to it. Rats are good climbers. The bait boxes have a little window above the bait so it can be checked often. The bait boxes also have a patrician down the middle inside the box that the rats have to go around to get to the bait so the bait stays in the bait stations. I didn't find any dead rats and I think it's because they went into their tunnels and died. I not advocating using poison only that I did after trying many other things. The green line in the pictures are where the partition is in the bait stations. Good luck...

This is considered a disposable rat bait station but I have managed to get the top off and refill it if needed with some bait.

This is a reusable rat bait station. You can check the bait daily through the little window.

 

[ChookieG]

I have tried many different things for rats. I had a coop that was infested. When I renovated it I found several rat nests in the ceiling and walls and dozens of rats of all sizes poured out when I tore out the ceiling and the walls. Our barn is behind the coops and I had seen some evidence of rats being in the barn. I also noticed tunnels around the coops and barn which I think the rats made. I bought some rat bait stations and some bait. The rats didn't care for the bait that came with the bait stations so I bought some different bait. They liked the new bait. As long as you are responsible poison can be used without harm. I put the bait stations with the bait into pet carriers so that only the rats could get to it and put the pet carriers up on shelves so again, nothing but the rats could get to it. Rats are good climbers. The bait boxes have a little window above the bait so it can be checked often. The bait boxes also have a patrician down the middle inside the box that the rats have to go around to get to the bait so the bait stays in the bait stations. I didn't find any dead rats and I think it's because they went into their tunnels and died. I not advocating using poison only that I did after trying many other things. The green line in the pictures are where the partition is in the bait stations. Good luck...

Thanks cmom for providing all that info! I was hoping that I could just use whatever I have in my kitchen pantry without having to resolve to buying another commercial product (again!) as a solution. Though whatever I have in my pantry are also purchased from stores anyway! DUH!

Well I think you know what I mean.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Poisoning or trapping rodents never ends. First fix what is bringing them to the coop, the chicken feed. Get a treadle feeder with a spring loaded door and set it as tight as the chickens are capable of opening. Do your research before buying, there are a lot of crappy feeders available. Pay close attention to the negative reviews as they are the ones that actually needed a rodent invasion fixed and not just a chicken feeder.

Good luck!

 

[ChookieG]

Poisoning or trapping rodents never ends. First fix what is bringing them to the coop, the chicken feed. Get a treadle feeder with a spring loaded door and set it as tight as the chickens are capable of opening. Do your research before buying, there are a lot of crappy feeders available. Pay close attention to the negative reviews as they are the ones that actually needed a rodent invasion fixed and not just a chicken feeder.

Good luck!

Thanks for your reply. I have considered treadle feeders and they are a great idea though my budget doesn't allow for one but I do remove the feed every evening from the run & coop.

Unfortunately the bastards are still around. I do keep two small metal tins (about 1.3 gallon capacity per tin) of feed next to the coop for easy access. The large stock feed bags are in my house which is rodent-proofed. We've been having very heavy rains these couple of days and I find muddy rat prints all over the top of those tins every morning. I also found rat poo all over a plastic feed tray that's empty but still has grain dust in there. I guess they're attracted to any scent of grain.

I suppose it'll just be an ongoing battle with them.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Treadle feeders start at $36.00, the ones with the spring loaded doors start at $65.00. Plus the shipping, so like so many things that pay for themselves sometimes it is hard to make the investment. So folks just spend more money on feed until they can do better. My dad's dad always said, "Son, poor people have poor ways." Been there and done that.

Sometimes chickens will kill mice so the feed will be safe during the day. On occasion a hen chokes on a mouse so that isn't the perfect solution, t rex laying hens. Rats, most chickens won't mess with them and the rats quickly learn to eat during the day as long as they have a safe travel path to and from the coop or they burrow under the coop.

Do this, despite all the warnings not to do so, count your chickens and divide the number by four. Ignore any roosters, they eat little. That gives the pounds of feed per day you should be feeding, about one quarter pound per laying hen per day. Now start tracking your feed use and figure out how much those rats are costing you. And know that it just gets worse not better. Spend a lot of time and effort trapping them out by switching traps or investing in one of the live traps, have the population down somewhat, six weeks later you are back where you started on the rat population and you have smarter rats that are less likely to be trapped. Ditto on the poison. Never ends plus you wind up poisoning their natural predators.

Rats truly suck.