"My theory is that in a few days the slug population will be dramatically reduced if not eliminated" I don't think slugs and eliminated belong in the same sentence, reduce is likely the best you can hope for.

What you will likely find is that a combination of controls will work best for you. The eco-friendly baits are effective for larger slugs, any number of controls including beer, and going out after dark with a flashlight and a spray of approx 1 part household ammonia to 3 parts water...spritz directly on those slugs you see on plants...for those smaller.

It looks like from your webpage you have chickens and ducks...have you considered letting those range in your garden? They make short work of both slugs eggs (the chickens will scratch them up where possible) and slugs.

Whatever you use I always found it best to put bait out in early spring. Get them while they are small is my motto.

To even begin to control slugs, or any other garden pest, you need to learn about them. What kind of environment do they like? I just saw an ad for an electric fence to help control slugs and at almost $50.00 it is a pretty expensive means of control.
I have very little problem with slugs in my planting beds that are heavily mulched and create the conditions that slugs like best (warm and moist), why?

Oilpainter - Spring is where you begin to see them after a break (unless you live here where you can find them just about 11 months out of 12)but the majority of eggs are laid in Fall. The more serious you might get about controlling slugs in Fall, the fewer eggs will be hatching in Spring.

Thanks for all the replies!

Kimmsr: most likely you haven't seen slugs because you are in a zone that gets significantly colder than than mine in zone 8.

Morz8: no, I don't let my poultry loose. I used to, but they do far more damage to the garden than help, also, the predators here are very bad.
Especially the chickens. They like to eat plants of all kinds. I hope to have a tractor that I can easily move around the garden, but so far I haven't found a design that is small enough.

Here is a link that might be useful: Living Outside the Box

I have slugs, I have seen slugs in my garden. Birds, toads, and snakes help keep them under control, but with the mulches I have on the planting beds that creates the environment they really like they multiply. But I have also seen that with adequate levels of mulch apparently the slugs have enough food that they do not munch on plants.

Kimmsr, are you saying that your slugs feed on MULCH rather than vegetation of some kind?