Mouse/Rat problem in Duck Yard

[Katy]

We've periodically had field mice burrow under the shed and around the property, however, this autumn I have reached my wits end with the tunnels and hole these critters are digging around my pond stones, under the duck shed etc...
I tried sticky traps a few weeks ago without success. The duck feeder is hanging inside the shed as it has for over five years. I've seen the tiny field mice scurry into the shed to grab feed pellets that are dropped on the floor when the ducks eat from the feeder. A friend who also has ducks believe that we have "norway rats" by the way I have described the tunneling all around the yard. He suggested rat poison. I have been scared to try any poison for fear the ducks would pick up the residue or crumbs if the rats/mice carry it from "out of reach" places to where my ducks have access to it. I bought a box of the poison "blocks" but have not taken them out of the box because I have no experience with rat poison. I just keep looking at the box of poison and feel like by putting it in the yard, I am knowingly going to poison my ducks, so I just can't do it. My neighbor says he uses it all the time and his ducks have never touched it or been harmed.
I need feedback because these rodents have definitely overstayed their welcome.The last thing I want to do though, is to have it backfire and harm my pet ducks. I also have many wild rabbits, squirrels, and deer who reside on our property. I do not want to harm them either if I can avoid it.

[CAWoodduck]

Maybe get an old milk crate, put the rat/mouse bait on the ground and put the upside down milk crate over it, atleast this way the mice can still get in but other critters won't.

Another thing you could try is that repeating mouse trap that traps them alive, when it gets full or a few in it, just dunk it in a bucket of water and dispose of the dead mice, reset it and do it all over again.

[goosedragon]

I used to do rodent control at a place that made dog food, with the village just across the street and a huge subdivision backing up to the plant. Bait was the only practical approach on the outside of the plant. In 13 years we never got a complaint about our bait (there were some complaints about the pests that all that grain attracted) All our bait was put in one of two types of feeding stations. the ones we bought were metal boxes with two rodent sizes holes and a lockable top. To service, we would unlock and place fresh bait in the box and lock them up again. The locks were to keep the neighborhood kids out. We made a lot of our stations out of pipe, 3 inch diameter by 3 foot long. We would chain these down and service them by pushing out the old bait with a club and shove the new bait half way down the pipe.
Inside we couldn't use bait because it might end up in the feed, Automatic traps called Ketch-alls would work for both mice and rats. You wound them up and when a rat stepped on the trap it would throw him violently into the holding compartment about 50% would be killed by the throw. another automatic trap was branded "tin-cat" it worked good on mice but was like a repeating box trap and you had to kill the mice yourself. We used the bucket method. ~gd

[Rich]

Goosedragon, I have some experience with this and will share my experiences with you. First and formost, the populations of rodents don't go up overnight and to gain a large population takes time. That said, to get the population in check will also take some time. First, you need to look at your feeding system. If you have feed available all the time, the rodents have free access to feed and it will be difficult to get them to use the baits. Yes, you are going to have to use poison, or do a hell of a lot of digging to dig the rodents out of their burrows. I would start limit feeding the birds, just what they will totally clean up a couple of times per day during the period that you are baiting. Once you get the population under control, I'll give you some additional suggestions. I use Tomcat bait stations (expensive at about $12 each but they work good. I have seen people use the 3 inch pvc pipe with great success as well, but those individuals actually use the bait blocks tied onto a stick that they slip into the pipe so the rodents can't drag the bait out of the pipe. Basically take a 1 X 1 board about 18 to 24 inches long to and using a plastic cable wire tie, attach the bait block to the stick. Stick this into the PVC pipe that is cut about two times the length of the sticks you are using. That will place the bait in the center of the pipe.

It is critical that all feed be unavailable while you are baiting. These pipes can be placed right in the duck pens. With a high population, bait will have to be checked daily for a while. Also, after several days, you may have to pick up and discard the dead rat/mourse carcasses. Keep baiting with this method until you notice that the bait is no longer being fed upon. At that point, I would try to collapse or fill in the tunnels you can get to to prevent new transients from moving in. Once you get the population under control, keep some bait stations continuously baited. I raise wild type waterfowl and keep a bait station (mentioned above) in my pens baited with Warfarin pellets. You'll hear people scream about warfarin resistant rats but I've never heard of any of those except in the urban areas that have had extensive baiting programs.

One of the things I've noticed about rodents is that the more you have, the bolder the rodents become. If the population is knocked down to just a few animals, they will be shy and looking for dark protected places in which to eat. That's why I think the bait stations work so well for me. Once I've gotten things under control, I still keep a look out for tunneling. If I notice some new diggings, I'll take my shovel and dig the culprit up and dispatch them with a shovel.

I hope this is helpful.

[goosedragon]

About those Warfarin pellets we were forbidden to use them, not because they weren't effective, but they are not fast killers and rats will carry them off to set up there own little stash. If you have a high populstion other rats will find them and consume But when you are finally getting them under control the stashes may become un-hid so to speak and available to non target animals.The bait blocks we were using were formulated with wax and were really tough. ~gd

[tinag210]

Another back to nature choice - get a cat :D . I got tired of always having to put bait out so finally decided to get a couple of cats. I was concerned that the cats would bother my birds so we got two kittens and raised them with the birds. The first couple of times the kittens got too close to mama hen's chicks and she went after them taught them to not bother the chickens. They are now adult cats, do not bother my birds and I rarely see any mice. We've never had rats though.

[CindyS]

I have about 8 cats running around and they do not help at all. The mice and rats hide and stay where the cats cant get to them. You must use poison if you really want to get rid of the problem. I had rats eating my pigeons, it took about 100 dollars worth of tomcat poison but I got rid of most of them.

[Katy]

thanks for the replies. Can I have success just sticking the poison blocks down into the tunnels?
Will they typically drag them around or eat them where I put them?

[Evy]

thanks for the replies. Can I have success just sticking the poison blocks down into the tunnels?
Will they typically drag them around or eat them where I put them?

I stick them in the holes, under the building, & anywhere inside the building that the ducks can't get. I buy about 10 bags of feed at a time & keep it stacked on a table, bait on the floor. That won't stop them but it slows them down. Opened feed gets dumped into cans. I've never found bait dragged anywhere.

[lmd]

I`ve always been afraid of blocks that can bemoved, because the rats might get them exposed where my dogs might find them. I found a dead rat with his shoulder flesh ripped last week, and wondered if the ducks would do this. I have a grain bin that has a rusty hole this year, and tonight, 5 rats jumped out. Time to fix that. I make meatballs with rattak in the meat I feed the dogs, and place them away behind doors. It has helped in the past, but this year is a real problem. Only one rat went in the live trap, and none were caught by the ole rat trap, but the traps were triggered. Smarter than me.

[goosedragon]

Most of the blocks have a thin spot in the center of the block to be used to nail or wire them down. It was the pellets that I was warning about, they are easy for a rat or even a mouse to move. That is why most of the pellets are dyed a bright color, so humans can spot them.
As for cats, unless they have been trained as hunters (usually by their mother) they are only working by instinct, they may attack anything that moves but often they will just play with them and let them go. Our barn cats only got fed by us when they were carrying or feeding a litter, and then only if we wanted to increase our cat herd. ~gd

[wyldflower]

Our Barn cats do great!! One good Momma cat with a few kittens is the best. We have even fostered kittens in order to keep good hunters around. They are friendly but not PETS they have a job to do. We feed the cats catfood in the winter and when we have nursing or pregnant mothers, otherwise they get a little dog food in their dish. The are all in great shape because they do their jobs. Even the little ones !!
When our cat numbers get low we sometimes use a bucket 1/2 filled with water with a stick laid across the top with a string tied to it with bait on the string, the rats reach for the bait or they try to crawl down the string and fall into the water and drown. Once I got three at once.
As of right now we seem to have a good system. We haven't seen any mice or rats in quite awhile but we do see a hole or tunnel here and there. We use bait blocks also when things get out of control.

[Katy]

I shoved several of the blocks down into the holes which are well under the ramp into the shed, and one behind the shed, both to which the ducks have no access. I will check back to report the results after a week or so. the rats have tunneled all around the border of the pond, under the flat stepping stones, causing them to tilt in and wobble around when the ducks walk on them. Definitely time to stop playing nice with these rodents :twisted:

[HeadmUP]

Well, I'll soon be able to tell you if a duck will be effected by eating a poisoned dead mouse. My nicest Runner hen gobbled one down on the fly the other day with me in hot pursuit when I saw what she had. So far, so good.

[Katy]

If I hadn't seen this almost happen with one of my Runner hens before, I would be shocked, but I had to chase down one of my girls a couple years ago with just the little tail dangling out of her bill. This was a live field mouse, who when I shook it loose, it turned and screeched at me before it ran away.
I hope your duck is ok.

[babalubird]

We have just gone through the Mighty Rat War ourselves and tried many different methods. The usual little green rat poison blocks in our van resulted in field mice crawling into hidden areas where they couldn't be found to die. Result, our van smelled horrible and I wound up throwing out a favorite blanket after 3 separate washings and bleachings that didn't get rid of the smell, and throwing away a good pair of shoes when I found a well-seasoned dead body in the toe. GROSS! :oops:

Someone on another website recommended Purina Assault, a faster acting poison that's supposed to dehydrate them almost immediately so they die faster and the dehydration is supposed to eliminate the stink. Well can't vouch for that second promise but this particular poison seems to have brought the problem under more control than anything else we've tried (which includes the WORTHLESS sonic sound device, standard snap rat/mouse traps, and a WORTHLESS battery operated trap that was supposed to electrocute them.

You have to be really careful with the Assault. It is an ugly death and you wouldn't want to see Fido go that way or any beneficial wild creature. The Assault blocks versus the pellets have a hole in the middle where you could run wire through it and wire it securely to something where it can't be drug off somewhere accessible to an non-intended victim.

Connie