timdrama Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 I new to Chicken Keeping - been going about 6 months now. We all love it - especially my 2 very young children. I have just been out to collect the eggs and I have seen evidence of Rats. A small hole behind the eglu - and one from inside the cage going underneath it. Can anyone tell me what I should do today to try and get rid of them? Many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mafia princess Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Good morning Timdrama! Do not panic! We spied a rat within 3 weeks of our girls arriving! First you need to block the hole, we used some bricks we had lying around and then call your local council. Our council Pest Control deal with rats for free. We met a lovely 'Rat lady' who also kept chickens and reassured us that we were not doing anything wrong - we take the food in every night and make sure the door is shut. They laid bait in pet safe boxes and came back over a 3-4 week period until they were sure the rats had given up on us. They take the bait then crawl back home to die. Don't try to catch them yourselves else you will be left with a nasty vicious or dead rat to dispose of yourself. It's the scattered pellets that attracts them-not the chickens. I took OH out each night whilst I tucked them up just in case a visitor took me by surprise but once the bait was down we were not disturbed again. If you search on the forum there is lots of rat advice. Don't let it put you off chicken keeping - I can't begin to explain to anyone how rewarding I have found it, especially since my real girls got married and left me with an empty nest! Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky1 Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 This should sort it viewtopic.php?f=42&t=25900 Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 My tip would be (as already mentioned) to take the grub in when you lock the girls in for the night and to keep the rest of the chicken food in a metal container with a tight fitting lid. Once you get rid of the intruders there won't be anything to tempt more rats into your garden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timdrama Posted October 25, 2010 Author Share Posted October 25, 2010 Thank you for your prompt replies - certainly won't put me off. Chickens are great pets AND they lay eggs. The trouble is my wife hates rats and I want to make sure she is not put off!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trougher Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 I spotted a rat in our garden yesterday - but that isn't really anything new, where I live there is an old railway line at the back of the house which is now a cycle path bordered by trees and vegetation, and about every six months rats appear in my garden. I put rat poison in a dish under the shed (where the dog, wild birds and chickens, hopefully, can't get at it) and that usually does the trick for about six months. I just buy rat poison from a hardware store - I did call out the council pest control people once, they looked at the rat poison I had and said they just use the same, so I don't bother calling them out any more. I don't dislike rats, actually, would love to have a tame one as a pet, but I'm afraid wild rats have to go when they start getting in the garden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
