auntielizzie Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I'm afraid I have posted quite a lot recently, but it seems to be one thing after another at the moment............ Betty with her gurgly chest and visits to the vet, Mrs Beaky now seemingly coming down with the same thing, Bessie and her non-laying and odd behaviour and today's lash/softy thing and now ............... a flippin' rat! Last night I was out in the garden (smoking - yes, I know it's very bad for me and socially unacceptable ) and I saw a rat outside the run. This morning I noticed that there are what are probably three tunnels dug in to the coop!!!!!! I have been all round and blocked all the holes with bits of paving slab, but what can I do to get rid of the rat? I don't want to put poison bait down as I have a young cat who might find and eat the dead rat, and also I am worried about the girls getting poisoned as well. Any recommendations? On the plus side, intros are all done and all girls are in the big coop together now, which took five weeks. I am pleased with that but obviously this gurgly chest thing is very worrying Oh dear, I knew it had all been too easy, but I suppose I was lucky to have a very straightforward first 18 months of chicken keeping before I got any problems - although everything seems to be happening at once Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chick wiggle Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 First, Dont panic! we all get rats at one time or another. People (neighbours) love to blame chickens when they can but rats will appear anywhere, anytime and not just because you have chickens. Second, make sure they cant get to the chickens food. Best to take the food in at night, that way you are removing one of their food sources. Next, get yourself a good bait station. Im afraid poison is the only way to get rid of them. Used properly cats or chickens shouldnt be able to get to the poison. You can get them from most diy stores nowadays. http://www.screwfix.com/p/procter-rat-bait-station/71520 Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs_B Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I know how you feel - it does feel like everything bad happens at once, doesn't it? It will get better! I have had an issue with a rat (well, I should say rats, because they always have 'friends') recently and I instantly filled in holes, took in the feeders at night and cleaned up any food that was lying around or had spilled out of their feeders. They want the easy food pickings, not anything chicken related (well, maybe the eggs if they can get them ) I have bait boxes and also have a cat - I think this is much safer than snap traps, and you need something down constantly now a rat has visited. The thing with bait boxes is to place them where the rat hides/runs and check it/your area a couple of times a day. The bait boxes didn't work right away because they must have smelt of humans - which they dislike! Your cat shouldn't have access to the poison inside the bait box. Also, rats hate anything new and are suspicious, so move things around. Good luck! x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clucker1 Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Rat expert here, Ha ha ha! Poison is the only way to go to get rid of the blighters. Poison station and use granules , block bait can be chomped off and carried back to the nest with risk of dropping it en route for other animals/birds to eat. It can take a little while for the rats to get used to the bait stations before they go in. Situate them in closed areas along runs where they go ie not in the open. This has worked for me http://www.amazon.co.uk/Neosorexa-Gold-3kg-Mouse-Bait/dp/B001DYQ2NG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349815455&sr=8-1 which I have bought from an animal feed merchant and bait boxes too. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I too have found a rat recently - it dug under an eglu and gave me quite a fright. Anyway, I watched it bound over the lawn one morning and realised that it is spending some time under a disused henhouse so I put a tray of poison down under the house and blocked the entrance with a rooftile so the rat could still get in but my cats can't. The rat(s) are taking the poison every other day so I hope to kill them off quickly. I agree about poison being the only way to go, years ago before we had chooks we had a rat (living in the compost bins - thats incredibly common) and the pest control man put bait down, telling me to put it under something so pets can't get at it wherever the rat runs (which requires a bit of luck to find out). He put masses of bait down, far more than the 50g the packet tells me to use at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I'd slab under your run and put down bait boxes. Keep them down after you think they've gone too. A dog walking friend has discovered a large rat in their kitchen got in through the sewer pipes apparently; they have since caught 4 more in the trap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goosey Lucy Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 A dog walking friend has discovered a large rat in their kitchen got in through the sewer pipes apparently; they have since caught 4 more in the trap. Mice in the house I can deal with but rats??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Nor me they sent the cat in after the first one, then laid a trap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I have a friend who battled a rat down the hallway of her London flat with a broom Can you imagine, I'd be a nervous wreck. I still remember camping in a field aged 11 with the Girl Guides and rats snuffling around our big old bell tents with no groundsheets. The next day we were collecting sticks in the wood (to make ridiculous tripods for washing up bowls and drying up boards for our cutlery ) and came across lots of blue poison barrels for said rats. So the 2nd night was even worse than the first. As it happens we also have an invasion of mice in the house - they kept us awake a couple of weeks ago with their marauding (I thought we had intruders ) so I investigated the larder to find that 50% of a 500g packet of pasta had disappeared in 2 days I'm not sure if I have the fattest mice in the world or the cosiest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Did we go to the same Guide camp? My grandparents had a stream running along the bottom of their smallholding, near the veg patch. the stream brought rats onto the property, my grandfather's preferred means of despatching them was a hefty shovel, although one went for him once! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coco Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 We have a rat too, flippin things. I have noticed a hole at the side of the bantie run for a while but thought it was the girls digging, only now I have the seramas in a seperate run the rat has starting digging into that run as well. I think its got braver as the cats have started coming in at night now its gone colder. i have been putting bait blocks down for the last three nights and have started bringing the food and water in. I'm away all next week so shall move the seramas onto concrete for the week so at least it can' get into their run. I shall get a bait box when I come back from hols. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trougher Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 We've always had rats in the garden, since long before the chickens came. After years of putting poison down under the shed, which is where we thought they lived, and this only providing temporary relief, my neighbour discovered that they were living under his garage! So all along it wasn't us it was the neighbour! (Luckily we're all on really good terms). Anyway, quite by chance I was talking to an environment type chappy, and he told me that after the rats have gone, put Jeyes fluid down holes and in rat runs and the smell puts them off coming back. If its possible to do that without the chickens getting at it, maybe that's worth a thought? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
