Author Topic: Food (Read 8763 times)

ballingall · « **Reply #15 on:** October 21, 2012, 10:55:25 am »

Quote from: plumseverywhere on October 21, 2012, 10:51:46 am

not sure I'd be too good with our air rifle, not with my dodgy eyesight - likely to stick a shot in OH's bum or something

Are you sure it would your eyesight that caused that?!

jaykay · « **Reply #16 on:** October 21, 2012, 10:57:45 am »

That's one reason I don't have a proper rifle.

I have the Settle-Carlisle railway running along the back of my fields. I was always worried I'd miss the jackdaw, shoot a passenger, who would be discovered mysteriously dead, requiring a Poirot-type investigation when the train journey ended

Quote

not sure I'd be too good with our air rifle, not with my dodgy eyesight - likely to stick a shot in OH's bum or something

Are you sure it would your eyesight that caused that?!

Carl f k · « **Reply #17 on:** October 21, 2012, 11:51:26 am »

not sure I'd be too good with our air rifle, not with my dodgy eyesight - likely to stick a shot in OH's bum or something

maybe not a bad thing..hope your sorting things there

jinglejoys · « **Reply #18 on:** October 21, 2012, 12:59:13 pm »

When I first moved here (no cats) there were lots of rats.One day I was trying to feed the calves and put both buckets down and stood back a\nd watched.I counted 25 rats in the buckets and I was standing two feet away.The problem is I love them they are such smart survivors I hated putting poison out

jaykay · « **Reply #19 on:** October 21, 2012, 01:13:28 pm »

Hey, it's good to hear someone say that

I like rats too, I used to keep hooded ones as pets. I think they're smart and interesting, I just wish they weren't quite so successful $:-\$

Lesley Silvester · « **Reply #20 on:** October 21, 2012, 09:53:08 pm »

I like rats too but not when they keep getting in the animal feeds.

In Scotland we used to get sacks of food scraps from the local filed study centre to feed to our chooks and whole families of rats would be round out feet with the chooks, vying for the best of the scraps (chocolate sponge pudding was a favourite).

Penninehillbilly · « **Reply #21 on:** October 22, 2012, 12:04:08 am »

Anybody been watching Wartime Farm?
They highlighted the problems with rats, you could see where they ran up and down the wood, rubbed dark and because they are constantly urinating. She suggested feeding them for a while then replacing food with poison.
One idea I'm going to try - mix plaster powder with rolled? barley, dry. Gives the SEVERE constipation. (read about that idea somewhere, not on wartime farm). Put some down a while ago and they nicked the plastic dish! OK - coffee jar top, I'll use a pot dish this time.

jaykay · « **Reply #22 on:** October 22, 2012, 06:50:29 am »

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mix plaster powder with rolled? barley, dry

Nooooo!
I know they're seen as vermin and that no poison is kind, but we don't need to be more unpleasant than necessary $:-\$

ballingall · « **Reply #23 on:** October 22, 2012, 06:56:25 am »

Yeah, someone mentioned to me mixing dry cement with a bit of grain. Have to say I thought that sounded pretty hideous. Not that rat poison is nice, but.

Beth

bloomer · « **Reply #24 on:** October 22, 2012, 07:24:23 am »

the advantage of rat poison is it has an ingredient that desicates the bodies quickly so they don't smell as they break down!!!

Anke · « **Reply #25 on:** October 22, 2012, 10:16:35 am »

Just got back from the merchants and bought this year's batch of rat poison... One thing the pest controller told me last year is to use WHOLEGRAIN poison for rats and cracked grains (wheat) for mice.
Let's hope it works again this year...

Penninehillbilly · « **Reply #26 on:** October 22, 2012, 11:51:07 am »

Quote from: bloomer on October 22, 2012, 07:24:23 am

the advantage of rat poison is it has an ingredient that desicates the bodies quickly so they don't smell as they break down!!!

Can't agree with that, used some bait earlier this year and I was nearly sick with the smell from under the hay. We did try to find it but didn't find it till I was moving the bales 2 weeks ago. (and that was just one rat)
We also have other peoples cats wandering around, I don't want to be poisoning anything else.
We don't normally do too bad with rats, but chap in nearby barn started keeping pigs, only came up once a day to feed, and I know he was feeding bakery waste, (did wonder why there were lots of little foil dishes in our field). Anyway, that's when we became overrun with them, they said they couldn't use poison in case a pig ate a rat. They had to eventually. When he gave up with the pigs ratties all moved down here.
I'd go crazy if they were running round while I was feeding things. as to the thought of them peeing on the hay I'm handling then giving the goats to eat ! ! !.