Chicken bald back

[bessandra]

Hi

 

Am I in the right place? On this forum I mean?

 

For the second time, but this time in the garden of my new house, I have rats. Yuk. LAs time, the rat was living under the eglu, now it seems to possibly be under the shed. I have just stood for half an hour, watching two rats (one of which is a beast!!) frolicking on my patio..amongst my free ranging chooks and their cooked rice. Hmm, it's a rats life after all perhaps.

I ahve read alot of the postings previously, thank you, but am not sure what to do. we have waste land at the back of the garden (someone else's untouched garden which is piled with stones, old machinery and the like). I spoke to the authority and she didnt seem wiling for someone to come out because I have chickens - I explained this wasnt a problem in November of last year.

What can I do? apart from all the hygiene good practices of course. I know to remove food overnight etc etc. Do cats keep rats away? Or only mice....?

 

Oh I'm so gutted

 

anya dvice is ALWAYS hugely appreciated.

[C&T]

Poison!

 

The only thing likely to work... Unless your cat is a really good ratter!

 

From what you have said, I would first put some bait under the shed to get rid of those monsters. Then, see if you can work out where any rodents are getting into your garden from "the wasteland", and put a nice supply of poison there as well.

 

If anything like us, you will be AMAZED at the amount of posion that gets consumed. We never saw any rats, just the evidence of them, and they got through 4 or 5 trays full a month or so ago over the course of a week - and have just noticed some new activity. Worth buying a reasonable quantity of whatever make you choose, and don't go for the cheap stuff if possible - worth paying the little bit extra.

 

Just make sure the poison is covered to protect other animals / children. Either buy the bait stations, or make your own - I used a very large upturned flower pot, resting on a stone, weighted down by a rock, others I think have used drainpipes?

 

Good luck!

[bessandra]

Thank you C and T,

 

I figured poison may be the only option...nasty things - they were huge, I thought they were large squirrels initialy, and then...when they started playing...yikes! I was nervous to go up tonight, in case I was confronted by the beasts in the dark ha ha!

I will go to Focus and see what poison is available, I will then buy it in large quantities and discreetly place around the gaff, and maybe sneak some over the wall on to 'the wasteland'

 

Many thanks,

 

Bessie B

[TAJ]

Our cat as killed at least 8 rats this year, the trouble is he thinks I want them at the bottom of the stairs!

 

I would try a trap, not poison due to other animals about in an urban environment - the food that is not harmful to pets has to make up the bulk of a rats diet to be effective and if they find another food source it is less affective.

 

Tracy

[Egluntyne]

Article **here** about rats.

 

I have never had any success with traps and always have bait boxes around the garden.

[stoice]

Same scenario as Egluntine. My rat traps have only ever caught a few mice (The slugs polished off the rest of the peanut butter bait ) I have bait stations out now and really couldn't rate them high enough. No sign of Roland for well over a month now. If you see any tunnels, try blasting a hose down them to flush any families out. If you can move garden items about and interupt their 'rat run' then it should unsettle them as they are neophobic (Affraid of new things). I've heard ferret poo is supposed to be a deterrent, so is this although I would say it probably works better if you are trying to stop them approaching rather than driving out an established bunch.

 

Anyone been watching Verminators on Virgin 1? The insects creep me right out but they always have a section on ridding a premises of rats. They say if you can fit your pinky through a gap then a mouse can get in, and the space for a rat is a large thumb. Scary stuff. They block up vents and access routes etc with fine mesh (Like the really small aviary mesh we see on sale) so no more can enter or get out to get normal food and water and then they place inside the space some bait stations, traps and poison water traps. Maybe if you can get to all sides of your shed you should seal the bottom with mesh. If they have no inviting home or food on offer then they may look elsewhere. Any 'food' they acquire from your place will be the poison so they should go back to the waste land area and die in their nests.

 

Good luck

[Ecky]

I haven't seen any rats in the garden yet, but I have seen them in the University grounds. So I thought it would be a good idea to put some rat/mice poison down straight away, rather than wait for them to show. I've bought two of these bait stations:

 

So the neighbours hopefully don't work out they are bait stations. The poison I use is Eradi Bait. From the articles in poultry magazines and their claims, it is a "safe" option when other pets are around.

 

Good luck.,

[Egluntyne]

Where did you get those bait stations from? Very subtle.

[Ecky]

Where did you get those bait stations from? Very subtle.

Ebay, they don't seem to have any on ebay at the moment. Company is Pest Control Superstore (www.pestcontrolsuperstore.co.uk web-page doesn't work yet, they say in April). Telephone: 01790 752825, price was something around £15.

[Egluntyne]

Thanks.

[julia55]

Hey Bessandra

I bet you wish you had 'THAT' white cat now !!!!

j x

[bessandra]

Hi everyone - thank you for all the advice. The council man is coming monday morning but he cant 'promise' to putanything down because I keep chickens..hmm..I'm a little nervous about putting stuff down myself as I have two very greedy dogs (anyone familiar with labradors?!) - I now have a subscription to so wil se what is in there with ref to poison and traps etc. Unfortunately I cant access all around my shed..I could certainly 'mesh in' what I could and put poison in the spaces I can reach.

 

And as for the cat...thanks julia55...we might just have to get one as I now see signs of mouse poop in the shed!! Arghhhh - we must be like NFH's to Dave, Sue and Betty..especially with the third black imposter we sometimes have lurking

 

 

 

Thank you very much once again - I'm very grateful to you all.