I went out this evening to feed the mother chook and the chickens but am now a bit worried. Yesterday there was 4 new chickens but tonight I could only see 2 but there are heaps of rat, I think, droppings all over the top of the nest box. I'm hoping the chickens were under the mummy chook asleep and not been gobbled up by a damn rat but I know rats take baby pigeons so...but the chook would surely not let a rat into her nest...maybe...
I know there is a Bandicoot living out there because I have seen it but I'm pretty sure they don't eat chickens and the dropping are, maybe, too small and up too high... What do you think, is this rat poo?
I know, nice photo!
A better one below.
I'll go check again in the morning and hopefully there will be 4 again but it looks like I need to go buy some traps...And work out how to trap a rat and not a chook...
From my own scat experience rat scat is about a half inch long, maybe a bit less. If you keep some of the scat in a container you intend to throw out, maybe you can find something to compare it with on the internet. About two blocks from me is a county agent who can identify it or I can take it to a pest control company. to identify.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen that much poop from one rat overnight. Could you have more than one? Could that be how the animal got two chicks?
Bandicoot? http://laurarittenhouse.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/is-there-a-bandicoot-in-my-garden/
Her suggestion is chicken poo to chase a bandicoot away. That may be true, but an animal will overcome an aversion to a repellant if there is food.
Short answer: I don't know.
If two are missing and feared dead, how would they be back in the morning? This is why my three hens get to live in the house at night...in a cage, of course.Raccoons are the predator here. I am in the looooong process of making their pen secure.
I'm hoping that they aren't dead and I just missed seeing them. But I didn't see any yet this morning, 6.30am.
ReplyDeleteOur bandicoot doesn't seem to mind the chicken mess, he seems to have the run of 3 pens.
I'll be agoogling today but I think the rats have been there for awhile and I just never noticed it before.
Barb.