bennett Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I have just been outside to my girls to be faced with a huge rat staring at me and clearly comfortable with my chickens! They are in a cube in a walk in run, looks like the run is digging underneath and getting in What shall i do, cant put poison down. So i get the chooks out? I have no cube run, and to be honest i havent got a spare £200 and there are none going on ebay so HELP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Some advice here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chick wiggle Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Dont panic, i had a very similar situation the other week. There really is only one way to deal with these vermin, poison. Get some bait boxes and place them around your run, that way, they will go for the bait/poison before getting into your run. To speed things up a bit, you could also remove or cover up any food in the run, that way there is no reason for them to go in there in the first place. Plenty of places on the internet to buy it from and delivery is usually pretty quick. I shouldnt worry about your girls, its probably been there a little while and wont really bother them, its the food its after not them, and if it should attempt to get into the cube, the chickens will soon give it a good peck and send it running. Im really sorry, but if theres one, there will be more, so poison is really the only way to go. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bevmatt Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Just out of interest - why can't you put some poison down? We use special bait traps with clear tubes sticking out the top you can then see the bait going down as it is eaten. To help prevent the chickens getting getting to the bait from the side we attach sections of drain pipe at the bottom - rats in chickens out! Of course this does not stop other small creatures eating the poison so I know there are ethics there. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennett Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 oh i have no problem in killing the little blighters but worried about the chooks eating it. I did think that i will put a seperate bowl of chicken feed down mixed with poison to kill it off at night while the girls are safely tucked in for the night Not sure if this will work or not. 2 sides of the run are against my shed and the neighbours fence - who will have a dippy fit if they find out! So i think i will have to go to b and Q in the morning and purchase something. I am just shocked that it was that blatent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Only put poison out if it is in a bait box. You run the risk of killing someone's dog, cat or similar if you just put a bowl of poison out at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sari Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 We had some rats in our camping gear, it what stored in a huge fibreboard container with metal banded sides and lid, in the Garage....nice and warm and dry, Hotel Rat....so when the OH opened it to get it out to air....oh gosh.....rat outpouring! They'd made a nest, and had chewed the tent to shreds. As we were sorting them out, I found they had cehewed through a tub of bird food too. We bought really strong bait boxes, from the hardware store, and poison grain. It worked...I felt bad. Tried to buy traps, but the petshop said they often don't work properly, and the rat gets a leg trapped, and dies a very horrible slow death, as it drags the trap around.....Hope you get your problem sorted. , Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweety Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I would definitely put poison down. I don't want to alarm you, but I had a rat problem last year and several of my girls were killed in their run. I had no idea that rats would kill chickens, but I haven't had a problem since I got pest control in to deal with the rats so I don't think it is safe to assume that the rat is only interested in their food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrocksrock Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 We had them last hard winter up here - they were so bold and we bought eradibait - its safe for cats and dogs and we put it in cling film and down their holes in fact we had a hole beside the house under a window and used to drop the baid down there - stuck some nutella on the outside of the clingfilm and dropped it at the hole entrance and used to watch them take it in the hold - I hate them with so much vengeance and we got rid of them in the end - they were in a compost bin!! They disappeared - died off and the eradibaid makes them leave no smell - google it to read about it - it was good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meezers Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I had rats in the compost bin last year, they tunneled into the WIR and were a right pain. I used poison ( Tomcat bricks) in the compost bin - luckily with the lid on it meant nothing else could get to it, and I placed old fashioned rat traps baited with peanut butter in the WIR when the chooks were locked up for the night. I caught 4 rats in the traps - it will take a few nights for the rats to be brave enough to investigate the traps, but you should catch a few that way. I didn't get rid of the problem completely until I moved the compost bin - there were two nests in there touch wood haven't seen any sign of a rat since. Do you know where the rats are nesting ? as chances are they are just feeding in the run, if you can get rid of the nest the battle will be won. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 We had them last hard winter up here - they were so bold and we bought eradibait - its safe for cats and dogs and we put it in cling film and down their holes in fact we had a hole beside the house under a window and used to drop the baid down there - stuck some nutella on the outside of the clingfilm and dropped it at the hole entrance and used to watch them take it in the hold - I hate them with so much vengeance and we got rid of them in the end - they were in a compost bin!! They disappeared - died off and the eradibaid makes them leave no smell - google it to read about it - it was good stuff. I hadn't hear of this poison before, it sounds interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrocksrock Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Its great bait = google it and you will see - it was also praised by the owl trust people and as I had cats and lived where there could be dogs - next to the vets surgery I did not want to put down horrible poison - have seen what it can do!! They realy liked it especially in little parcels of clingfilm with nutella on the outside! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
