do anyone breed there own rodents?

[Chris S]

just wanted to know if any of you breed your own rats or mice for feeding your birds?as many of you myself including breed our own quail just wanted to know what set ups people have,just thought it might be worth ago as i have the space.

[Pitbull]

ive started guineas, I have them in an 8x4 run

[Chris S]

wife keeps them as pets so thats right of the menu

[Finnish]

It must be like a zoo around your house Chris....:lol: :lol: :lol:

[Chris S]

only 2 cats 3 dogs (pups due end of next week)3 ferrets, quails,bantams,rabbits(dead and alive)7 bop, guinea pigs,canarys and 2 gold fish.

[Pitbull]

wife keeps them as pets so thats right of the menu

so do the kids

the yougest daughters is due in a few weeks and knows where their going, even though she is 8 and special needs she loves the hawk and understands. She was round at Heikes at the weekend helping with the killing of the quails. ( thats my girl) :lol:

they have seen them in the hawks freezer so used to them that way also.

[Falcon911]

just wanted to know if any of you breed your own rats or mice for feeding your birds?as many of you myself including breed our own quail just wanted to know what set ups people have,just thought it might be worth ago as i have the space.

I tried it with Mice and found it wasn't worth the trouble and wondered how they are produced so cheaply.....

[Harris]

only 2 cats 3 dogs (pups due end of next week)3 ferrets, quails,bantams,rabbits(dead and alive)7 bop, guinea pigs,canarys and 2 gold fish.


And a Partridge in a pair treeeeeeeeee!!

[KeithGlasgow]

just wanted to know if any of you breed your own rats ........


Yes, I breed my own, but not on a big scale. I have 1 buck rats and 5 doe rats. I use a variety of cages and am still experimenting as chewing is a problem. The last 3 plastic cages I bought seem to be working, as the rats aren't chewing them. They have a wire section on the top that I can lift up to access the rats. My rats aren't tame. I run the does with the buck, and when the doe is 'showing' to be in kitten, I lift her out into a separate cage. When the young are about 3 weeks I put the doe back with the buck again. I find the does breed well for about a year and then ease off - then it's time to replace the breeding stock. As they're not tame, I lift them by the tails - adults can't climb their tails, but young ones can, so be warned!! I use them to feed my kestrel. Rats are very hardy, easy to feed, and produce a lot of young. My systems not ideal, and I'm thinking improving on the system, when I get time.

Keith.

[Talon]

if your having problems with them chewing there cages try using fish tanks.
as theres nothing for them to chew.
but i have found the thing with breeding your own food is it works out cheeper buying frozen.unless you do it on a farely large scale.
as once you add up the cost of housing .beding . ratfood.and all the messing about. it far easyer and cheeper to buy in.imo.?

[Sean]

why arent they tame, i use to work in a pet shop, and to my amazement, rats were the tamest and smartest out of all the small animals

[KeithGlasgow]

why arent they tame, i use to work in a pet shop, and to my amazement, rats were the tamest and smartest out of all the small animals


Hi Sean, I don't have the time to handle my rats. My neighbour got a young one at 3 weeks old yesterday from me, and with all the attention it'll get, it will turn out tame and trusting. A few generations back, I bred in wild rats for the colour variation (don't ask why!), and that mayby didn't help either. Tho' the bottom line is - when any animal doesn't get attention and handled when young, it'll be wilder and more prone to bite. From memory, the first generation off the wild buck rat were reasonable - I certainly took the time, and tamed one of the third generation. Although tame, in every other aspect he looked like a wild rat. Anyway, enough rambling.

Keith.

[KeithGlasgow]

if your having problems with them chewing there cages try using fish tanks.
as theres nothing for them to chew.
but i have found the thing with breeding your own food is it works out cheeper buying frozen.unless you do it on a farely large scale.
as once you add up the cost of housing .beding . ratfood.and all the messing about. it far easyer and cheeper to buy in.imo.?

I have never worked it out - sometime I should, but I'm of the opinion that it's cheaper to breed your own, and there's very little work with it. IMHO.

I have thought of building a 8' x 8' aviary with 10mm mesh (wired on the inside of the timber), and concrete base. I could throw in a dozen breeding does and let them get on with it. I could put in cockateil type nest boxes for them to kittle in, and cull the surplus for the hawks. If there was a slight gradient on the base, I could powerhose it from the outside.

I used to have a 3'L x 2'W x 2'H cage which sat in the garden, raised 3' off the ground. Unto the end was a 18" Nesting box which kept them warm in winter. The dropping etc fell down through the 10mm mesh and the rain kept it clean. The bedding just needed changed occassionally. It worked really well, as rats are very communal, BUT there were heavy losses, as the pinkies got smothered - the bigger rats all lay on top of each other including the females that had just given birth. With my present system, I loose very few young.

I have 8 young does just approaching the breeding age, and I'm thinking of developing something better with less work and more rats - still at the thinking stage tho'.

All for now,

Keith.