CAMPYLOBACTER: Anyone else had it?

[Chicken deficient]

I have had my Eglus for years without problems, but now I am at my wits end because of rats.

 

We live next to a farm, which I think is why there is a problem.

The farm have been shooting the rats and also poisoning them. They put down 50kg of rat poison and the whole lot was eaten overnight

Our chickens were in their Eglu within a 3m x 6m run, with weld mesh sides, buried 2 foot down into a trench filled with rubble / hardcore, but the rats have tunnelled in all over the place. They were eating the chicken's pellets as fast as I could buy them.

 

I have paved the area that the cube and run stand on. I now have to keep the chickens shut in the cube run most of the time and take all the food away when I let them out. They are not happy about this - they are used to their big run and free ranging. I am particularly upset, as now I have done this, the rats are eating their way into the Eglu run. They have eaten the green powder coating off the run in places and are getting through the metal too - about 1/3 of the way through in the two days since I paved the run. They have also eaten the hanger off the back of the Grub since this morning. I have now put the food in a hanging feeder in the middle of the run.

 

I know that they will get into the Eglu run soon and I am at a loss as to what else I can do. Taking the food away at night doesn't help - they are just as active during the day and don't even run off when I am there unless I throw things at them and yell.

 

Help!!!

[The Dogmother]

I think you need a 'terrier man' to get rid of them - ask around the local farms, they are bound to know of one.

[Chicken deficient]

Thanks, yes, a top notch ratter won the dog show at the village fete, so I'll try and track it down!

[Tweety]

Yes, you really need to get rid of them by whatever means you can. I had a rat problem last year, though nothing like as bad as yours by the sound of it, and eventually had to get someone in to put poison down.

I actually lost 7 hens around that time, killed in what I thought was a predator proof WIR, and I don't know if rats were responsible or if it was something like a mink. At the time, I didn't even know that a rat could kill a chicken, but I would not hesitate to get the rat man in again if I spotted one near the run.

[The Dogmother]

They will usually only take chicks or quail but have been known to take a full sized hen if the rat is big enough.

[Chucky Mama]

OMG poor you I would die if this happened to me as I have a serious wild rat phobia Some rats become immune to poisons and I am told that chicken food contains some vitamin K which is the antidote to some poisons that are anticoagulants. I too would get someone in. If the rats are bold enough to come out when people are around you could shoot them with an air rifle. You could use traps but it is easy to catch small birds if you are not careful. Good luck, I really feel for you. It might be worth getting a rat proof feeder. I am not a fan of the standard treadle feeders that you can get but the Grandpa Feeders look good - expensive though.

[Chicken deficient]

Thanks for the feeder suggestion - sorry I've only just noticed it. It would be an excellent idea, but I have some Pekins, which probably weigh the same as some of the rats, so I don't think it would work for me.

 

As an update, I have a bait box and poison down all the time; one of the neighbours has had pest control round several times as they have such a bad rat problem in their garden. The farm are apparently continuing to shoot and poison them. I am sure the farm is the source of the problem.

 

In the meantime, they have eaten pretty much all of the green coating off my Cube run, from ground level to about 5 inches up. This is all rusting away rapidly - faster than I can keep up with the Hammerite. I am not sure how much longer the run will last now as a result. There is no point me replacing the Cube run, as they will just chew it again, so I am not sure what I am going to do about that. They have also eaten through the hangers of two Grubs and a Glug. They have chewed up the whole of one side edge of the clear tarpaulin, which I just put on for the winter.

They have totally destroyed the mesh of my 3m x 6m walk in run, so it is no longer fox proof and so I can't let the chickens into it unsupervised. There are at least six rat tunnels into this now as well, despite the weld mesh being buried a foot deep.

So, not counting the food they have eaten, I think they have easily done £500 of damage so far.

 

The largest rats obviously cannot get into the Cube run, given the damage they are doing to the outside, but the smaller ones are managing to squeeze through. As a result, the water is continuously filthy - within an hour of me cleaning, disinfecting and re-filling the Glug, it is full of mud and dirt and covered in footprints again. They are eating more food than the chickens are as well.

 

Sorry to moan, but I am totally at my wits end about this now. I hate even the thought of going out to see the chickens now, as I know I am just going to be cleaning up rat mess, which is difficult with a toddler in tow. I have to sit him in his buggy, which he hates, as I don't want him going anywhere near where the rats have been.

 

I can't see what option I have left other than to re-home the chickens and sell what is left of my Eglu, or move house.

[patsylabrador]

I don't know if this will help as your rat situation sounds dire. We put bags and bags of gravel around the perimeter of the WIR, inside and out. Our thoughts were that as they dug the gravel would collapse and it would be more difficult for them to make tunnels than in the clay soil. That seems to have worked very well. We also put down a bait box and use an air rifle which is also effective. I also think that the fact that we have a big urban fox population here, being close to the tube, helps. We saw a big old fox carrying off a rat a couple of weeks ago.

[Snowy]

How awful

Definitely worth getting a few traps for around the perimeter of your run as well. You really need to hit them hard or you'll never be rid of them

[Tweety]

You really need professional help by the sound of it - I would get Pest Control in asap. As well as bait boxes, the people I got in put poison down the tunnels and rat runs etc and it certainly sorted out my problem. I have only had to call them back once in the last 12 months and, although there are undoubtedly rats around, there are no signs of them near my hens.

Like you, I am in a rural location next to a farm, so all I can do is try to keep the rats away from the hens as far as is possible - and, as Snowy says, you need to hit them hard and keep on top of the problem.

[Chicken deficient]

Thanks again everyone.

I was really upset when I went out this morning, to find they had been in the Cube itself and had made a hideous mess. Luckily the chickens seem ok - I could not see any obvious bites. They had got in by climbing up the back and squeezing in the poo tray gap.

My OH rang our friends at the farm and they came straight over to have a look. The farmer had a good look round and found the main rat thoroughfare behind my run and built a brilliant chicken - proof bait station, using a big tyre, sheet of wood and stones. This has got a whole bucket of bait in it, so should keep them busy. OH is getting an air rifle asap.

The farmer's wife had lots of tips about shooting them. Her father was a sniper in the army and now puts his skills to good use shooting rats around their chicken run, from the comfort of an upstairs room, whilst reading the Shooting Times with a cup of tea! If all else fails, I'll see if I can get him to come round.

 

I totally dismantled the Cube and scrubbed it all and put fresh bedding in the run. Thank goodness for easy clean Eglus. OH kindly helped and went round collapsing tunnels and filling them in and cutting down weeds around the wir.

 

I feel much better now and more optimistic that we will get on top of the problem. It is encouraging to hear that others have managed to get the better of them.

 

Thank you all again!

[The Dogmother]

Glad that things are a bit more positive now - it's a horrid situation, especially with a youngster.

[Chicken deficient]

Thanks yes, I was getting very upset about it all.

 

There was a rat stuffing itself at the feeder when I went to take the food and water away last night, but the Eglu was still nice and clean when I went out this morning and there are no new tunnels in the wir.

 

They are probably just being more cautious after yesterday's disruptions, but still it's nice to have a day off cleaning up after them!

[The Dogmother]

Yes, they don't like change to their routine, so will be a bit baffled at first.

[sari]

I have found serious knaw marks under my eglu, from when it was in the WIR. It's now on slabs outside. I put down BIG snap traps baited with peanut butter, worked a charm, have also used poison. Sounds like you have a major problem though...good luck! x x

[Chicken deficient]

When I took in the food and water earlier, only 1/3 of the pellets were gone. Usually it is almost empty!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they've all stuffed themselves with poison out of the tyre

 

Don't get me wrong, I really don't like killing things and I've kept a few pet rats, but enough was enough.