oh forgot the most important thing. Thank you all so much for your support and prayers. They truely mean so much to me
Horrible week
Donna sometimes I have to leave my 14 hens for five days at a time. I just cut plastic water jugs and fill them up with water and food. My coop has a very small run, and they seem to do just fine until I come back.
Don't know your setup but as long as they have food and water and some protection from the wind they should be fine.
I know how difficult it is to trust people these days too.
Can you check the local school or church? Maybe a 4-H kid or Boy/Girl Scouts?
Annie, those are good ideas. It may be they could earn a service badge by doing it.
Donna, we had prayer for you in church this morning.
The agricultural officials in the area too might know someone to help.
Cajun I really appreciate it. That was so thoughtful and I have felt pretty good today, just irritating pain, not to bad
I am hoping to get a high school kid like when I needed someone to plant for me when we moved in here but they are in school now and wouldn't be able to come until after 3 p.m. and also there is the issue if they get hurt. I am already being sued for 200,000 now. I am just beside myself as to what to do. I have big feeders but the rats will eat it all in a night. I am at a loss on how to get rid of them so I only put out what they will eat in a day now. Everything i do only works a couple of times then they change stradagies and hiding places. I have used snap and glue traps. Glue traps don't work in winter as the glue get hard and looses its stickiness. I have put poison balls out in tree stumps, rat holes and areas that my dogs won't get into it. I did the water bucket with the soda can with peanut butter on them. I had hubbie cut the floor out of the ground coop of the double decker coop and ran out about 30 rats the other day. I have used gallons of Caynne Pepper down the holes and hiding places. I put the water hose in holes I see to flood them. we have put concrete down and around the holes and along the edge of the coops trying to prevent them from digging under. The coops/pens are on the edge of the woods and I believe every rat from a mile around comes to eat here. When it is not to cold I take the dogs out there at night and that puts the rats in high gear. I have a Rat Terrier and a Feist and they love nothing better than hunting rats, moles, and squirrels lol.
I may check with my feed store and see if any of the boys working there might want to come for a hr every morning before work. I am only 2.3 miles from the feed store or they may know someone that would come help me for a week or 2 if i have surgery
Throw some moth balls in the holes,that might help keep them out form under the coop.I used them in the summer around the outside of the runs to keep animals away.Seemed to work and chickens did not eat them when they were free rangeing.I`m not saying that yours won`t only that mine did not.Then again maybe the smell might bother them where they are so close to the ground.Just a thought.
You need some snakes.
Tomcat bait bars keeps the rats down around here. We had them bad because we keep our feed on the porch. I was sitting on the porch with a flashlight taped to my gunbarrel and shooting them off the porch. We have those great big creek rats and we have woods all around too. They ate the bars like candy for a week and I was worried it wasn't working. Then I started finding the dead rats. We don't have much of a problem anymore. You could put the bars under the places where the rats are hiding. I only put out what feed my chickens will eat at one time too.
This message was edited Feb 7, 2011 9:40 AM
I really can't put poison right where the rats are since my dogs try to dig them out. only if there is a hole that I can drop it deep down in. My dogs tell me exactly where the rats are
You might find something the rats can get in and the dogs can't, a wooden, plastic, or metal container. Those bars work great.
Hope you're feeling less pain today, Donna!
That's a great idea. Maybe a 5gal bucket with a hole in the lid for the rats to fit in but not the dogs.
duh didn't think about putting the poison in the bucket with out water. Great thinking Cajun
I can't take credit. It was LFJ's great idea. And it is a very good one. You can get those buckets with lids at TSC for $2.99. Just tie it in the upright position so the dogs can't knock it over and get the bar out.