The usual rat MO seems to be to dash out for a piece of food, go stash it, and come back for more. Good shooting. As a kid, I remember my grandfather’s hens chasing mice, and I’m pretty sure they’d have eaten them if they caught them. So I was surprised when I went to a friend’s house, some years back, and noticed motion under a bush. I looked, and there were several mice eating chicken food. This guy threw it around pretty good, which kind of annoyed me because I had a few roosters farmed out to him while their feathers developed, and I was paying more to feed them than my home flock. Obviously the chickens were too well fed to care, but it still struck me that all of these mice were out during the day, so I asked about it. He said it was because they didn’t dare come out at night because of the rats. I asked how bad could they be, and said I should stick around for dinner. After dark, we walked out to the shed complex, and he turned on a light. Oh. My. God. Walls, ceiling beams, shelves, and the floor turned into streams of rats running for their holes. And this guy was a shooter. Must not have had an air rifle. He could have set up a dim light and sniped rats all night, probably for weeks.
” I had a few roosters farmed out to him while their feathers developed, and I was paying more to feed them than my home flock.”
Fly tier eh?
Pro tip...
Go the farm auction in late winter/early spring and sort through the cages of roosters and pick out the best at bargain prices.
You get the necks and saddles for cheap. I’ve bought whole cages full of blue dun roosters for $1 ea!
Be sure to go late winter so the younger ones will be fully feathered.