Rat deterrant and trap suggestions please!

[Anime2lover]

We have a bad rat infestation. We have started picking up food at night several weeks ago. The rats have become desperate and are killing our chickens, so we closed them up completely at night as well. Now recently they chewed their way into our rabbit hutch and killed one of our big bucks! (We found better housing for the last two.) We have been fighting them for months and none of the poisons we tried are working. Our yard is also now littered with rat holes, some of them being really close to the supporting corners of some of our sheds and coops. They are also chewing holes into our coops that we have to keep a close watch for.

 

[SilverBirds]

At this point I would call pest control. No way you could het rid of an entire established colony with just a few traps. They are pretty intelligent and will learn to avoid traps, baits, and poisons after seeing a few of their comrades fall.

 

[Anime2lover]

At this point I would call pest control. No way you could het rid of an entire established colony with just a few traps. They are pretty intelligent and will learn to avoid traps, baits, and poisons after seeing a few of their comrades fall.

Is there any way we can deter them then? Can't afford pest control.

 

[SilverBirds]

Is there any way we can deter them then? Can't afford pest control.

Sounds like you have way to many rats to really deter them at this point. I would try the bucket method. There are many YouTube videos on how to make one. I'd make multiple and set them in different places so you can catch the maximum amount of pests. I'd also go about filling in as many holes as you can if you haven't already.

 

[Anime2lover]

Sounds like you have way to many rats to really deter them at this point. I would try the bucket method. There are many YouTube videos on how to make one. I'd make multiple and set them in different places so you can catch the maximum amount of pests. I'd also go about filling in as many holes as you can if you haven't already.

Is that the one where you fill a bucket with water and suspend bait above it?

 

[SilverBirds]

Is that the one where you fill a bucket with water and suspend bait above it?

Yes it is. Worked very well for us in the past.

 

[Anime2lover]

Yes it is. Worked very well for us in the past.

We could try it again.

 

[MilesFluffybutt]

If you have rat snap traps, you can set them around the holes where they are digging under/near the sheds and coop. As noted above, rats are smart and they are suspicious. When I realized I had a rat pair trying to colonize under my porch, I baited unset traps around their holes. After a couple of days, they were used to the traps and started taking the bait. After a couple more days, I set the traps and that was the end of the rats.

I don't recommend the reusable traps as 2/3 of the time, it wouldn't trigger.

 

[Al Gerhart]

The rats are there for the chicken food and little else. You must have a ravenous horde if they are going after rabbits and chickens. What else are they eating that supports a big colony? That is your first fix, eliminate their food and they will either starve or leave.

Bringing the chicken feed in at night just teaches them to eat during the day. Get a proper treadle feeder, clean up the pathways they are using to get around so natural predators can get at them, and get your bulk feed in metal containers if you haven't already.

Do a forum search for Howard E.'s posts on rodent control, the best advice I have seen anywhere. They are in this section of the Forum and will turn up if you use the search function.