Eglu Go With 2m Run For Sale

[poppy33]

Yesterday we had a visitor, and not the kind I welcome A very large extremly well fed rat appeared bold as brass walking around my garden, he scurried off when I went out though, I have been getting through lots of chicken food lately and thought the girls were eating rather well, not sure if rats take eggs but we have also noticed a decline in egg production from our three girls, I have a walk in run and last night I saw ratty in the run. Being a veterinary nurse I have a no kill policy for all creatures unless they are suffering so killing him is not a solution, instead I am borrowing a humane trap and plan to relocate him if we catch him, has anyone else done this, and if so is it true that they cant resist chocolate and thats the best thing to bate the trap with, all advice on this rat problem appreciated, I guess I will have to take the food in at night and put it out in the morning

[chickyhazel]

We used to have a rat problem, we put out rat poison in chicken proof (probably) areas and set traps, and they have now gone. Rats will go to wherever there is food so if you relocate him it is likely he will come back.

[ISCA]

I am borrowing a humane trap and plan to relocate him if we catch him

 

It is against the law to trap a rat and then re-release it. If you catch it in a "humane" trap you then have to dispatch it. Drowning it is also illegal, so you would probably need to shoot it to stay on the right side of the law.

[shoura]

can't you make your run rat-proof? they're everywhere anyway so it's likely if you get rid of one there will be others...

[Egluntyne]

It is in fact illegal to relocate vermin that have been caught in live catch traps.

 

I suggest that you get a treadle feeder for the WIR, and a metal dustbin with a secure lid to store the food.

 

tbh, you never have 'a rat', you have rats.

[poppy33]

Oh so cant just release him in the woods then I have to say though I dont think that law sticks in reality as at the Veterinary Hospital where i work we have re-released squirels and the same law is in theory that you must not release them, and one very big well known animal welfare charity release them all the time. I thought my WIR was rat proof but I think it must be climbing up the sides of the wire and squeezing under the small gap where it meets the corrugated roof, I can see no signs of any digging or tunnels. It is I realise likely that we have more than one rat, my neighbour is very keen on feeding the wild birds and pputs out lots of food so that is not helping either. I could trap him and then gas him at work and put him to sleep, more humane than the anticoagulant type poisons, and I have a large hedgehog population in my garden as well as pets so am not keen to use poisons

[Egluntyne]

If you put the poison in a bait box it shouldn't be accessible to hedgehogs.

[Chucky Mama]

You shouldn't really release it elsewhere as you are transporting your vermin to someone else's area, they can also have a feeding range of a mile + As far as I am aware it is legal to release a wild rat back into the wild as it is an indigenous species unlike red squirrels. I know that you don't like the idea of poison but you can use it safely in a bait box where the hedgehog can't gain access. Plus being trapped all night in a humane trap, driven to the surgery, gasses and then injected is a pretty stressful process in itself - that's if you catch it. I have had a humane trap for 2 years not and only ever caught a robin and our garden hedgehog

[Tricky]

Dear Poppy,

 

I have read and agree with all of these posts. We recently have had rats visiting and you really do need to get rid asap.

Rats carry disease of many types and will affect your hens.

 

A while ago I wayched a rat, bold as brass helping himself to my hens food in the eglu run. it had dug a hole under the Eglu and into the run. It wasn't too bothered about my presence. Forget advice about buying a trap, as I did.Rats are extremely clever and for a novice virtually impossible to catch in a trap. In any event what do you do with it when you nhave caught it, as by law it has to be killed.

 

Anyway, I placed a steel trap in the Eglu run with some peanut butter inside. The theory being that the rat goes in disturbs the plate that the bait sits on and "bang" the door shuts. Well the rat sniffed the trap, went round the side of it, dug underneath so the bait dropped through the hole and off it went, laughing at me sitting in my deckchair...

 

I realised that I wasn't going to catch it so contacted the local authority. Of all pests local authorities will deal with rats for you at no cost.

They will use poison and place it where they believe the rats to be running. They put it in tubes like drainpipes and came back to check the consumption.

Unfortunately the poison is slow acting as if a rat feels il it will not eat that particular food and will survive an "initial" poison so it works over a period of a week or two. When the poison is no longer being eaten...job done.

 

Don't feel bad about it, wild rats are vermin, carry lots of diseases, and they are vicious. When we had a visit I watched the same rat that had been in my Eglu attack a neighbours bantam hen grabbing it around the throat. It was only my intervention that made it run off.

Also, like someone else said, you do not have one rat!!!!!

Sorry for the bad news but contact your local authority asap and they will deal with this for you.

 

[Tricky]

You shouldn't really release it elsewhere as you are transporting your vermin to someone else's area, they can also have a feeding range of a mile + As far as I am aware it is legal to release a wild rat back into the wild as it is an indigenous species unlike red squirrels. I know that you don't like the idea of poison but you can use it safely in a bait box where the hedgehog can't gain access. Plus being trapped all night in a humane trap, driven to the surgery, gasses and then injected is a pretty stressful process in itself - that's if you catch it. I have had a humane trap for 2 years not and only ever caught a robin and our garden hedgehog

 

It is ILLEGAL to release a captured rat.It has to be killed.

[jennydavies]

When we first bought our land in France we lived in a caravan for a couple of months. We had a rat living under the caravan, one of our Greyhounds waited patiently for weeks for the opportunity to catch it. One morning Charlie let the dogs into the garden and it took Enfys two seconds to run across the garden and despatch the rat cleanly with no fuss, blood or mess. The blooming rat was a nuisance, it was into everything we had stored in the awning. I class myself as an animal lover and would not like to harm any animal but somethings have to be got rid of.

[poppy33]

If I contact my local council to help me get rid of the rat, wont they also tell me that i will have to get rid of my three girls as they will say they have attracted them to the garden.

[Egluntyne]

Your neighbour feeding the birds is more likely to be the cause of the problem tbh.

 

If you can demonstrate that you have taken every precaution, and there are no legal reasons why you shouldn't keep chickens, such as a clause in your rental agreement, then I doubt they would be able to force you to get rid of them. They will put down poison anyway, so if you want to steer clear of the council, you may as well put the bat boxes down yourself.

 

I occasionally send for a man and his terriers. They are very efficient, and the job is done in the blinking of an eye.

[Tricky]

By contacting your council you will be showing them that you are a responsible person trying to get things sorted in the correct manner.Don't worry about that.

More likely that your naeighbour throwing all sorts of food out for the birds will have attracted them in first place

 

[jennydavies]

I occasionally send for a man and his terriers. They are very efficient, and the job is done in the blinking of an eye.

 

I'm pretty sure living in Kent, there will be a local man you can call in to deal with it, terriers are very efficient in dealing with rats and you wouldn't have to call the council.

[Chucky Mama]

 

It is ILLEGAL to release a captured rat.It has to be killed.

I always believed and quoted this but I am now not sure that this is the case (I am more than happy to be proved wrong and think that is should be illegal ). It is illegal to release wild non indiginous species such as grey squirrel & muntjac deer - although you can now do so if you are given a special license. As a brown rat is a native species although vermin - is there any law that says that releasing one is illegal? I don't know, as I said, happy to be wrong (and to continue to tell people not to).

[sadietoo]

I've read the replies with interest, but like Poppy I hate to take a life, and understand her reservations about poison which is a bit indiscriminate. And life isn't any fun if you always stick to the rules..... isn't it also illegal to feed Chickens certain foodstuffs (eg Cat food) and bury them in the back garden when they pass on...but we (well some of us) do it...

 

Poppy to answer your original question, I have been successful catching mice with chocolate in those humane traps..(and relocating them a mile or so away from our house in open fields).. Silly question I know but do they make humane traps big enough to take a rat???

 

As others have pointed out, (and as a veterinary nurse I am sure you are very aware) Rats do carry lots of awful diseases..so don't handle anything without gloves...

 

Alternatively, a terrier would be a natural way to dispatch ratty,...Can you borrow one?

 

Good luck

[Egluntyne]

Re the legalities of releasing rats cautght in cage traps.

 

From pdf file TIN057-ed2 from the DEFRA website.

 

Any captured rats must be humanely despatched. This can be effectively achieved by shooting with a suitable air rifle or pistol. Consider the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, that include animals under the control of man.

[Chucky Mama]

Re the legalities of releasing rats cautght in cage traps.

 

From pdf file TIN057-ed2 from the DEFRA website.

 

Any captured rats must be humanely despatched. This can be effectively achieved by shooting with a suitable air rifle or pistol. Consider the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, that include animals under the control of man.

 

Great thanks for the clarification I couldn't find anything so I can now quote this to my hearts content.

 

Going back to the original post, whilst we all understand and strive for the live and let live approach it is really not practical to apply this to rats. They carry horrible diseases that can be passed to pets and humans and they breed like crazy.

[poppy33]

Yes we used to have a terrier man on the farm where I used to do lambing, as you say very efficient and quick, they used to net them before the terriers came, I am not sure thats possible in my garden, as I think they may be underneath my summerhouse, as its raised up a little bit, I could try to get some bait underneath. I will need to ask my neighbour if he can stop feeding the birds for a while as its never going to take it with the bird food all around I live near open fields and when I was walking my dog in the fields I saw a rat, I guess they have just found our easy food source I will put down the bait myself, we have such a lot of veterinary emergencies with rat poison, where I work I am slightly worried but thought I would place it into tubes and try and push it underneath the summerhouse and around the back of the WIR which is up against a fence one side.

[jnb]

... Being a veterinary nurse I have a no kill policy for all creatures unless they are suffering so killing him is not a solution ...

 

Understandable but now consider that rats will spread disease and kill other creatures (including your chickens) and pose a risk to human health. By not killing the rat you are just choosing to kill something else. The only humane option for all concerned (well maybe not the rat) is to kill it. Inaction just means that you're choosing to kill something other than the rat.

[Redwing]

I agree although its rare for a rat to take on a grown chicken, rats do spread nasties and I have no hesitation in poisoning them

[jnb]

... I thought my WIR was rat proof

 

Nothing is rat proof. They will get through a smaller gap than you can imagine, gnaw through wood, wire, even softer metals. The only options are to deprive them of food and shelter.

 

... I could trap him and then gas him at work and put him to sleep, more humane than the anticoagulant type poisons, and I have a large hedgehog population in my garden as well as pets so am not keen to use poisons

 

Agree with you on the poisons (also long term use means that rat populations are acquiring resistance to some poisons), live traps are good if you really want to make sure you are getting rats and nothing else. Otherwise I'd just use snap or fenn traps but placed in tunnels to reduce bycatch. A simple tunnel made from wood, or even a modified drainpipe is a good option as tthat's a good way to keep out domestic animals though I'm not sure how good they would be at prevent hedgehogs etc. getting to the bait.

 

... I could trap him and then gas him at work and put him to sleep, more humane than the anticoagulant type poisons ...

 

Is it really more humane to trap it, transport it and then gas it than to just use a snap trap or shoot it when you find it in a live trap?

[jnb]

... its rare for a rat to take on a grown chicken ...

 

True I was thinking more of the spread of disease, contamination of food etc. rather than a direct kill

[Tricky]

Re the legalities of releasing rats cautght in cage traps.

 

From pdf file TIN057-ed2 from the DEFRA website.

 

Any captured rats must be humanely despatched. This can be effectively achieved by shooting with a suitable air rifle or pistol. Consider the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, that include animals under the control of man.

 

Unless you know what you are doing I wouldn't recommend using an air rifle.rats can survive being shot with an air rifle if you don't get it right.They are very hardy creatures.

I can understand some people not liking the idea of killing an animal but it is irresponsible not to take the correct action where rats are concerned.If you don't deal with it quickly, by calling in professionals the you are asking for trouble and you could even get them in your house.