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April 10, 2012 at 8:16 pm #602838
debmarkParticipantFree laying hens to good home. These hens are only one year old and laying. Americanas. We are tired of feeding the rat population.
Call mark at 206 730 2896
April 10, 2012 at 8:35 pm #754399
debmarkParticipantApril 10, 2012 at 10:24 pm #754400
tom kelleyParticipantI’m thinking about getting chickens. What’s up with the rat problem?
April 11, 2012 at 12:18 am #754401
herongrrrlParticipantChicken feed can attract rats, but the problem is a lot worse if there are other conditions near the coop that provide good rat habitat, like wood piles or ivy. We’ve kept hens for years and live close to the water, so we do see rats from time to time, but honestly not many more than we did before we got chickens.
April 11, 2012 at 12:25 am #754402
debmarkParticipantI tried to keep up with them with traditional rat traps but even with tight fence 16 inches below ground and a tight house they just tunneled under and ate at their leisure all day and night. I was going through 40 pounds of food every 10 days.
Just today as I went in to get the birds to give them away there were so many rats I couldnt count them. Uhhhh so gross. Yes we have a heavy ivy hillside with lots of vegetation all around us. The only thing that used to work was our little cat who used to catch rats almost as big as she was. I will miss the girls.
April 11, 2012 at 4:47 pm #754403
tom kelleyParticipantThanks for the advice. One last question, will they eat my shrubs?
April 11, 2012 at 9:28 pm #754404
herongrrrlParticipantProbably not. But they will eat any young, tender flowers or garden crops they can get to. And, at least at night, you will want to have them in a VERY secure coop, to protect them from raccoons and/or coyotes. Both to protect the garden plants we want to keep and to keep the birds safe from predators, we keep our coop in a yard made of dog wire, with chicken wire over the top (so the raccoons don’t drop in from the trees, which they will do). We also put cinder blocks down around the outside of the fence to discouraged the raccoons from digging under it. We move the whole setup around the yard every couple years to give the birds some fresh ground to scratch, and use the previous location for a super-fertilized garden bed!
April 11, 2012 at 9:57 pm #754405
tom kelleyParticipantThank you.
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