If you are squeamish or faint of heart, please do not scroll down and please leave this thread..
Last night rather 3 a.m.-ish, my trusty dog was woofing at our Pole barn garage where my teenager poultry are housed. We have been having a serious rodent problem so I kinda figured that was the deal. Hubby went out with a firearm and flipped on the lights in the barn.
I bunch of rats scattered and scampered off to hide. 2 rats in 1 live trap and 1 rat in another.
We thought it was a small victory until he saw a 3 month old buff hen that had its head yanked thru the wire brooder.
They ate the neck like corn on the cob. Feathers all over the barn and the other 30 or so birds all running in circles in the brooders.
The hen was still warm and rubber chicken limp. I can only assume she was eaten alive.
What a shame. What a beautiful hen. So soft and young.
Hubby shot the 3 rats and reset the traps. We left the dead rats in the barn over night. This morning THEY WERE GONE!
Rats are cannibals. The took their falling comrades and ate them somewhere else. Disgusting creatures. Buried the hen first thing this morning.
I guess now you see why I have a few threads like https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-war.1182970/ and instructions of to build bait houses and such.
All the major rain has chased them into our little oasis in the swamp.
Sorry about the pics if your squeamish, but I warned you. Almost created this post without photos but every picture tells a story.
If you have a Rat problem, I can feel your frustration.
Good bye for now!
F.C.
Last night rather 3 a.m.-ish, my trusty dog was woofing at our Pole barn garage where my teenager poultry are housed. We have been having a serious rodent problem so I kinda figured that was the deal. Hubby went out with a firearm and flipped on the lights in the barn.
I bunch of rats scattered and scampered off to hide. 2 rats in 1 live trap and 1 rat in another.
We thought it was a small victory until he saw a 3 month old buff hen that had its head yanked thru the wire brooder.
They ate the neck like corn on the cob. Feathers all over the barn and the other 30 or so birds all running in circles in the brooders.
The hen was still warm and rubber chicken limp. I can only assume she was eaten alive.
What a shame. What a beautiful hen. So soft and young.
Hubby shot the 3 rats and reset the traps. We left the dead rats in the barn over night. This morning THEY WERE GONE!
Rats are cannibals. The took their falling comrades and ate them somewhere else. Disgusting creatures. Buried the hen first thing this morning.
I guess now you see why I have a few threads like https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-war.1182970/ and instructions of to build bait houses and such.
All the major rain has chased them into our little oasis in the swamp.
Sorry about the pics if your squeamish, but I warned you. Almost created this post without photos but every picture tells a story.
If you have a Rat problem, I can feel your frustration.
Good bye for now!
F.C.