4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[hornet]

My wife switched the outside light on this evening to check the girls had gone to bed and bold as brass a rat was sitting in the run helping himself to bits of food from the floor. (I take the grub in at night) She watched it for about 10 mins and didn't quite know what to do! When I got home from work I checked all around the run and could not find any sign of where it got in. Is there a chance it could squeeze through the bars of the run? They seem too small but you here that rats can bend their bodies in odd ways. I shot off to B&Q and bought a bait box and poison. I hate the idea that it went anywhere near the chickens!

Edited January 12, 2009 by Guest

[Egluntyne]

I wouldn't rule it out.

[Gallina]

Have you got a small hole emerging in front of the Eglu near the door hinge? That was always a giveaway to me that rats had gone in again. I never used to see the other end of the tunnels without a big search.

 

If so, you will find a nice cosy nest under the Eglu, and I would recommend putting it on slabs.

 

I have never had rats dig into the run. If full-size rats could get through the Eglu run mesh, then it would have happened to me, but it hasn't. But young or stunted rats probably could.

[C&T]

We've had mice get in through the bars on the run. They then try and dig their way out again....

 

Covering the run with Chicken wire has stopped it (proving they were mice, as rats I am guessing would have just bitten through it - it was cheapish stuff).

 

We tried the mice traps to no avail, but they seem to like the poison we have now put down...

[hornet]

Update. I spent last night in the dark, wind and rain putting slabs around the skirting of the run. This morning there are 3 holes dug through the mesh and into the run. I'm hoping the poison works as my wife has stated that if the rat is still there by the weekend then the chickens will be sent to the local farm! I'm certain it's a rat as it was too big to be a mouse. Ahhhhhh!!

Will the hens be OK? I'm worried they might get attacked or catch something.

[C&T]

Will the hens be OK? I'm worried they might get attacked or catch something.

 

I am no expert at all, but I would make sure they are firmly shut up at night in the eglu, to give yourself piece of mind if nothing else.

[atsw]

Also be very careful that absolutely no rat bait can get into the run. A mouse or rat could deposit small amounts of the bait as they tunnel in and out.

 

In the last few weeks our rat problem has re-emerged . We've used poison in the past, but last year we found a dead rat under the floorboards of the house (they tend to take themselves off to a quiet place to curl up once poisoned) so I got a pack of five rat-traps at the end of last week. We caught one rat two days ago, and this morning found an enormous (dead) rat in the middle of the garden, with rat-trap still attached. It was so big that it didn't die straight away when the trap fired and managed to stagger a good 20 feet into the garden before giving up the fight .

 

Link for rat-traps I use. I brought a five pack. They seem to work well, although we have also caught three mice as well as two rats .

 

Andrew

[crazygal]

Yes rats can get in through the bars because I have seen it with my own eyes (and no it wasn't a large mouse). It was not a full grown rat , but it went up the side of the run and down through the top (the mesh must be slightly wider at the top than the bottom).

 

As Gallina says they have also tunnelled through under the eglu- look out for holes at the base of the eglu going into the run.

 

This was last year, we have taken many precautions since, and have no trouble. We put slabs in the gap under the eglu up against the front to make it much harder to tunnel in- would have to tunnel twice as far underneath, and bring the food in at night, and put a tray under the grub so there is no spillage on the ground. Compost bins are now on slabs, any food waste is covered up so no smell to attract rats.

 

Good luck with getting rid of them- it is possible, just takes perserverance as there is likely to be a family and they breed like crazy as well.

[DianeB]

We've had rats burrowing under the eglu and getting the food, then making a little nest under the eglu. No visible signs from the outside except a tiny burrow by the front door, but obvious nest with food underneath when we moved the eglu. Solved the problem completely by bringing the food in every night. Haven't had a whiff of a rat since then.

[kerrie]

I've had my eglu delivered today (yay!) and am going to get my girls tomorrow-what do I need to do to stop this problem before it starts? Do I need to put the eglu on concrete slabs? Thanks

Kerrie

[Iqbal khattak]

The best solution will be to eliminate the source of attraction ie no food left in the run.