injured quail

[pgbirdman]

I'm wondering if there are any small amimals that could get thru the wire and bite the Coturnix?  I even laugh asking... but I'm convinced something is doing just that.  Several have gone missing and now last night I noticed one "lulling" about so caught him and found a large "bite" taken out of him.  These are not pecking marks.  Needless to say he died during the night.  Any idea's on what this could be?

[joip]

I had a problem like this a few years back and found out the rats had dug a tunnel under the wire, I laid baits outside my pen and have also concreted the wire into the ground, solve my problem, this might be your maybe not

Joip

[pgbirdman]

Rats it is!!!  I put out 2 traps and caught 1 rat the first nite.  I have put them out every nite since and no more.  Also the missing and bitten quail has stopped.  I thought rats lived in "packs" and I only caught 1.  To be honest it really shocked me, I didn't even know we had rats up her in Prince George!  It wasn't as big as I've seen in pet stores, but a rat none-the-less.  I've never seen a rat here, or even feces by the feed.  Could there be more?  I hope not but am very glad the problem is solved.  Thanks for the suggestion!

[joip]

If you caught one there is the possible that there are more, i live in one of those areas where we will always have them, all my feed is store in plactic drums, and everynow and then I lay baits and my dog is an excellent rater, I know I'll never solve the problem but I try to be one step ahead

Joip

[Fivehollers]

Holey Toledo Batman...we also have had a rat problem. They art a whole package of the poison and so we put out a trap but I think the mice ate the bacon off it. We also keep all the feed in plastic storage bins and it seems to keep them out of it but everymorning while I am watering the birds in the grow off pens I see him/her scurring along the rat I am talking about is almost as large as my california giant rabbit I don't know if the black snake that lives in the shed could take him on or not (the black snake is about 5 feet long and fat) This weekend we are moving the rest of the birds to the new pens and so I can concentrate on getting rid of the varmits in my shed. :shock:

[Pheasant Hollow Farm]

It just seems that anytime you have game birds or chickens you are going to have either rats or Black snakes.

Last year, I had a problem of 51 pheasant chicks disappear within 4 hrs inside the barn brooder. I had just moved the 4 week olds into the sheltered flight pen area, and not one problem of either snakes of rats consuming my chicks.

I had just finished cleaning up the passage ways between the two 8x 16 barn brooders when I trip over what I though was a garden hose. I turned on the light, and low and behold, I had tripped over a 6 foot Black snake.

I was told that, Black snakes will take care of any mice or rat problems that you may have in the barn, since I have feed stored there. So I left the snake go on to it own business.

Well since my 51 chicks had vanished in thin air, and not one single sign of any disturbance, I was totally puzzled.

The following day, while I was out into the sheltered flight pen with the 4 week olds that I had transfered, I noticed a dead bird that wasn't there prior to entering that area. When I went to pick up the dead bird, it was pulled from my hand. On the other side of the pen, in a dark area, was that 6 foot Black snake. Well, I landed 2 shots at it with the 380 Walther and went into the house for the .22. Upon my return to the area of the snake, it had slithered off. I went back to the shelter pen area, and there was this 875x15 tire tread along the wall. There it was and one of the birds was about to become another meal. This time I took it out with a head shot and dragged it out of the barn.

Not only did this snake eat my chicks, it also had a nice size rat inside him that was exiting from the hole made from the 380.

Besides the Black snake eating the rats and mice, no one had mentioned to me that they will eat eggs and chicks as well.

Last year, I took with a gun or on the garden tractor a total of 5 Black snake. So far this year, in the barn alone I have gotten (2) 5 foot Black snake and two with the garden tractor around the pens. These Black snakes don't seem to stay in the high grass.

As for the rat problem, I go into the barn at night with the .22 and a flashlight. Some nights I win the lottery, other nights I lose. I will also use rat traps with peanutbutter and jelly dusted with crack corn. This seems to work well also.

If you are thinking of using any poison control, think about these two issues:

1-possibilities of the birds or other animals, dogs getting into it.
2-the rat carcuss being consumed either by the other animals, dogs, or being pecked by the birds.

Steve
Pheasant Hollow Farm

[power]

delet

[Fivehollers]

Well we have moved the last 100 birds out to the flight pens. We butchered 50 (yummy) now I am concentrating on cleaning the grow off area in the shed.

Well...I am not a scardy cat but....that damn snake is much bigger than 6 foot or maybe even 8 feet and I think it did eat the rat (yippee...I think) if that is what that large round thing was in the snake...but I am not going into the shed unless I am armed. Holey smokes...we did not come up missing any birds because we keep the cages well off the ground for a snake, mice and rats can climb the timbers tho...and the only casuality we have that I can tell are birds missing toes.

Anyway...almost peed myself when I saw that snake  :shock:  backtracked out of the shed and the cleaning is gonna wait till I get some more .22 shells...or maybe the shotgun.

Can't wait until the ole man comes home tonight so I can show him, he will first laugh at me then maybe dispatch of the snake...or maybe not but he is gonna clean the shed  

Lori

[MochaChai]

wow, that makes me feel lucky. We don't have any snake problems, and the rat problem is under control because everynight my dad and my dog go in the barn, and check out the stalls where the chickens are, my dog is good at finding rats, if they're on the floor she'll loosly pick themup in her mouth, and if in rafters, my dad'll put a trap out.