PROVEN AND EFFECTIVE WAYS OF RAT CONTROL IN POULTRY FARM

Rats manipulating eggs

Rat attacking feed bag

Rat on the alert

When rodents eat feeds, they tend to defecate in it. Your chickens may ingest the feces and that can make your flock ill with salmonella or other bacteria. Second, rats will eat eggs and kill young birds. Rats are also excellent swimmers. They can swim up to half a mile in open water, travel through sewer lines against substantial currents, and tread water for up to 3 days .They can fall 50 feet without serious injury and can jump vertically up to 3 feet.
Rats usually feed once or twice during the night. They have a home range of approximately 100 feet and often live in colonies, with several rats sharing the same feed and water source.
Rats reach sexual maturity at 2 to 3 months of age and have a gestation period of 21 to 25 days. The young are weaned at 3 weeks old, often just before the arrival of a new litter.
A female can mate as soon as one day after giving birth. If fertilisation does not occur, she will come into heat about every 5 days. In natural conditions, many die, but in a year, as many as 60 to 70 offspring from one female may mature.
It is important to know how serious a rodent infestation problem you have in order to tackle the problem.
In addition to the feed issues mentioned previously, rodents also spread diseases to poultry flocks by contaminating feed and bird living areas with urine and droppings.

Rats and mice are linked to poultry diseases such as:
• Salmonellosis,
• Colibacillosis
,• Coryza,
•  Pasteurellosis,
• Mycoplasmosis,
 • Hemorrhagic enteritis,
• Hymenolepiasis,
• Capilariasis, and
•  Ascaridiasis

Rodent infestations on poultry farms can result in economic loss in a number of ways such as;
1. Feed loss 
Rats will eat almost anything that could be classified as food including rotting materials and manure. However, they prefer good quality, fresh food and this is plentiful around the poultry farm. Each rat can consume up to 30 g of food per day and will spoil much more

2.Damage to buildings and equipment
Rats cause damage to building structures, including foundations, water lines, electrical cables, etc. Damage to electric cables can lead to short circuits and are often the cause of fires and electrical failures.

3.Damage to flocks
Rodents not only physically damage the building structures and equipment but they can also break and eat eggs and kill young chicks. Rodents are also major vectors (carriers) and reservoirs of poultry and zoonotic pathogens (pathogens that can be spread from animals to humans), including Pasteurella multocida, Salmonella typhimurium, S. enteritidis and influenza and infectious bursal disease viruses.

Rodents also carry parasites such as lice, mites and fleas. In addition, rodents cause general nuisance for birds in the house due to their noise and movements. The birds may be frightened, which results in poor performance.

MAJOR CONTROL MEASURES
• Sanitation
• Rodent-proof construction
• Population reduction
• Evaluation

Sanitation and Rodent-proofing
These are both important to prevent an infestation or remove one if an infestation currently exists. Sanitation is simply good housekeeping practices that deny rodents shelter and resources.

If shelter and nesting sites are provided, rodents will gladly accept the invitation and move in. However, a clean, well-maintained operation exposes rodents to predators and exposes their activities (burrows, trails, and so forth) to you.

Keep the grass mowed and trash and clutter from collecting around the houses. Maintain at least a 3-foot space around the perimeter of the poultry house that is free of brush, trash, weeds, and so forth.


Totally rodent-proofing a poultry house is not possible, but you can make it difficult for rodents to gain entrance. Make sure load-out and walk-in doors close and seal properly. Check that corrugated metal siding is sealed, and make sure corner seams are tight. Properly seal openings surrounding feed augers, water lines, and electrical conduits that enter the house from outside

Total elimination with homemade poison
√Sodium bicarbonate
This is aevery simple  and effective way of repelling rats, just add sodium bicarbonate to grounded fish meal or chocolate or  even poultry feed. You can pour  the mixture into cracked eggs. Be careful when using this method.

√Black pepper powder
 This is very powerful and effective method but also very dangerous if wrongly applied. Just pour at entrance of rat way in very small quantity. The odour is so powerful that it causes respiratory problems to animals that comes in contact with it .

Rat poison:
It is another option some say it id not effective but if you can get a good one I can assure you it will work .

Rodents pick up the poison on their feet, fur, and tails as they move along the pathway and ingest the poison while grooming. Tracking powder is regulated and its use is restricted to those individuals qualified to handle the product.

Note:
Any method chosen should be applied with caution so as not to destroy your animals