loumabel Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Well, my worst nightmare has happened and we have rats in our garden!! We live in the countryside so I really should not be shocked but I hate it just the same. I keep my Bantams on a half acre paddock at the bottom of our garden along with our 2 sheep. We have a small feed shed in this section and I keep all food in sealed metal containers. The rats are nesting under this shed although they don't appear to have gained access to the shed yet. We keep our bantams in a large walk in run and have an eglu cube and are soon to get 6 ex bats in a seperate cube (end August)and I am worried about what damage the rats could do to them. I hope this doesnt sound stupid but will rats attack chickens? and if they manage to gain access to the walk in run can they get in the cube? I am also scared to let them freerange at the moment because of the rats. We really try to keep everything as clean as possible and I remove food from the run every evening and we clean litter trays every day and do a full scrub down once a week. I pick up all my sheeps poo twice a day and put it on the compost heap. I have also now panicked and ordered a metal shed to replace the wooden one we have and my husband and father are going to put down a concrete base so they cannot nest underneath. I have put down pet proof rat poison traps (hate doing this, but I have to get rid of the nest!!) I would be really grateful for any more ideas to minimise the amount of rats and also how much of a threat they are to my chooks. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 They do tend to come out of the fields when harvesting begins but I think it is a bit early for that. Loads of people have rats but just don't know it. Poison is the the way to go really. Just make sure it is used in bait boxes and I don't use blocks in my bait box for fear of a rat pulling one out and then dropping it for a not target species to pick up. I use rat a rat proof feeder for my chickens to stop any spillage or rats feeding from the feeder during the daytime. Some poisons take for ever to work and some just seem to fatten them up An air rifle and a keen eye is a quick effective humane way of dealing with the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Some advice here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loumabel Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 Thanks, thats some really good advice. I went mad with the strimmer today and cut down any stinging nettles and weeds that are getting overgrown and I have just ordered a different type of rat proof tumbler composter so I can do away with my current open type of compost heap. Hopefully once we have the new shed and composter they will be less attracted to my garden. I am going to get some more poison bait traps and I hope I will wipe out the current nest with those. Thanks again for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH HENS Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 You are doing everything right. I had the same problem in the winter only they were getting into the walk in run they dug underneath the frame despite the fact it had paving slabs all around it, I was terrified that they would get into the cube as the air vents are quite big really. we ended up lining the whole floor with a weld mesh frame, covered that with soil then put the hard wood chipping back down on top of that. Now it is just a case of keeping the numbers down with bait , although we don't tend to see them in the summer. I also moved my compost heap as it is such a great place for them to nest in . Hope that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loumabel Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 Thanks so much HH, it is good to know I am doing the right thing and that I am not alone. This morning my brother came over and we dismantled the wooden shed and when we lifted the floor up it was like a scene from a horror movie!! Rats running in all directions, thank goodness for my wellies or I may have freaked out completely. My brother is a real tough nut and bashed a couple with the spade, so thats two down. We then dug down about two feet and have hopefully destroyed their nest. We are concreting the new base this weekend, ready for the metal shed so hopefully that will help. I am worried, the same as you about the size of the vents on the cube and wondered if it is possible to cover them with some weld mesh some how I really hope we can get on top of this problem soon, it is really worrying me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henergy Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 we dismantled the wooden shed and when we lifted the floor up it was like a scene from a horror movie!! Rats running in all directions, It made me squirm just reading it !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KateC Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Oh my word! Rats are one of my nightmares too. I really hope you get on top of them. I have only had my chickens for 3 weeks and am already paranoid about clearing up the food and water at the end of the day! Best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 we dismantled the wooden shed and when we lifted the floor up it was like a scene from a horror movie!! Rats running in all directions, It made me squirm just reading it !! I am afraid that I would have dropped dead on the spot. Total nightmare. If I didn't die I would have to move house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH HENS Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Oh my word what an experience "Ooops, word censored!"ody tells you about these things when you get chickens, thank goodness you had a brother who could cope with that, my brother would have run and climbed the nearest tree !! Yes I have also wondered about covering the hole with some type of mess but don't know how you would make it stick. At least you have got it sorted before the winter as it would have been so much worse then. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loumabel Posted July 20, 2011 Author Share Posted July 20, 2011 I have my Dad (he loves a challenge) on the case trying to come up with a gadget that we can use to cover the cube air vents without blocking the air flow. I will post some pics when he has made it. Thanks again for the advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH HENS Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 You are lucky Loumabel with the men folk in your family. Do let me know if your dad comes up with a good idea ! Have you seen any more rats today ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 you need to keep the bait topped up all the time with at grain or pellet type or rait bait not the blocks they tend to take those away and hoard them.it took about a month on the alottment for them to get use to the bait stations then about 4 months before I had to fill them up less often. I used 20kg in 2 years this year I only fill them up every 3 weeks or so but I'm not sure if it's rats any more or mice and voles taking the bait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlotta Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Look out for a bait box with a metal rod inside so that you can thread on the blocks. This stops them carrying them away and prevents the spillage (and therefore potential accidental poisoning of other species) that you get with the grain bait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Cats are a good mouse deterent - have you got one? My friend had a rat under her stairs - it came in thro adjoining houses air brick and munched its way thro a giant box of crunchy nut cornflakes I threatened to send the cats round - my 2 are good mousers and birders (sadly) and I think they would floor a rat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweety Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I used some scrunched up chicken wire in the vents on my eglu when I had a rodent problem last year - something got into the locked eglu via the drainage hole in the nesting box, and killed one of my bantams, so I blocked that hole with chicken wire too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loumabel Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 You are lucky Loumabel with the men folk in your family. Do let me know if your dad comes up with a good idea ! Have you seen any more rats today ? Hi HH, The males in my family do come in handy now and again!! Dad is retired and loves me giving him little things to make so he can potter about in his workshop and get away from Mum for a few hours I will definitely let you know if he comes up with something useful. I havent seen any rats yesterday or this morning but I havent been around as much as I usually am, so not sure if that is coincidence or not. Fingers crossed we are getting things under control. The poison in the bait traps has been nibbled in one of them but the other two have not been touched, not sure if that is good or bad?? I will keep you posted and thanks again for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa C Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Oh Lou how awful for you! I hope it all gets under control soon. Nasty "Ooops, word censored!"s rats.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKMARCH Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I read that it takes rats a few weeks to get used to new things in their territory so it can take a while for them to take the bait I guess it depends on how hungry they are, has anyone used the nooski traps I was thinking of getting some to keep near my compost which I think I will have to change as it is a plastic one. We moved it and put it on concrete and slabs and as the rat can't burrow in has chewed a nice round hole through the plastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Loumabel - that is a seriously spooky avatar - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clucker1 Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Hi, I feel like I have a degree in rat killing...we used to live next to a railway line and the rats used to pop over the wall and down a few gardens where there were guinea pigs out in the garden with their food which was accessible to rats the whole time. (For the rat reason, we always fed our rabbit and guinea pigs when in their closed hutch.) The pest control officer used to put bait down in all of our gardens except the one which fed from the rabbits as they "liked" the rats!!!!!!! Anyway, it is really good they have taken some bait. You should use gloves when topping up the bait to protect yourself and also so the rats don't smell you so they are put off feeding from your bait station. They must like one bait station and haven't found the others yet or just like the one they have found. It is important to keep it topped up so they bring their friends back for more food, they like eating in covered areas/ledges etc. After a few days of eating the bait, they will go back ot their hole and die there. Sometimes you might find a dead one. We had 10 years of rats, it was a problem that we got rid of then they returned, we were lucky to have a free rodent control from our council then, but that has since been stopped, but I do know a lot about getting rid of rats. The other thing is they like breeding in the same place (under our old next door neighbour's shed)....its like something in their genes. I used to have such nightmares about rats, but when in control of the situation felt better. They still give me the mega creeps though. I hope this helps and you get rid of the wretched things!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loumabel Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 Loumabel - that is a seriously spooky avatar - I know, my niece made it for me. It is called a wee mee and it is from my skype account. There is something slightly sinister about it I will change it when she is not looking to something more friendly Update: changed spooky avatar for a picture of my sheep Florence, isn't she gorgeous?!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
