Nacktschnecken omlet Cube

[counturchickens]

We have a rat in our beehive style compost bin. It's quite near the house, so planning to move it to the veggie plot part of the garden. I hear rats don't like being disturbed, so hopefully this should move them on. My question is should we put poison down as well, or live and let live if they're away from the house. We live in a semi rural location near a river so I am guessing they may be inevitable. No evidence of them near the chicken run, but that is completely situated on concrete.

[Purplemaniacs]

Oh no how annoying at least they are not near the chickens.

 

Our next door neighbour has complained about having rats, you can guess whose fault it it that he has rats, ours because we have chickens. He has questioned me about where I store the food ect. I have told him I bring the food in every night when I shut them up at dark and the food is stored in the utility in a bin. All our runs and eglus are on paving slabs.

 

He tells us he has spent over £30.00 on poison and the council rat man has been three times.

 

I hope you get yours sorted CC either by moving them or poisoning them.

 

Chrissie

[Blackrocksrock]

Site the compost bin on slabs too and no rat will get in them!

[Old Speckled Hen]

Site the compost bin on slabs too and no rat will get in them!

Neither will worms,though.

Put them on a double layer of chicken netting.

[Blackrocksrock]

We have a wormery and it is so prolific that OH puts worms in the bins on the slabs and they are surviving and working very hard in there - we have so so many!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Actually the 2 bins that get food s"Ooops, word censored!"s are the ones on slabs - the others get weeds only and garden stuff. That way we are NOT feeding rats.

[Old Speckled Hen]

Ah sorry,

I thought you were taking about compost bins rather than wormeries.

I was talking about earthworms and outside bins. I didn't realise the little red worms could survive outside in the winter.

Mind you, you'd have to put them in there to start with.

[counturchickens]

We've moved the compost bins to being on slabs too, so far no more signs. I will be vigilant though!

[Blackrocksrock]

Ah sorry,

I thought you were taking about compost bins rather than wormeries.

I was talking about earthworms and outside bins. I didn't realise the little red worms could survive outside in the winter.

Mind you, you'd have to put them in there to start with.

We have 7 compost bins - 2 on slabs with one wormery - the 5 get garden waste and the 2 on slabs get kitchen and garden waste and hen compost and the wormery is so so prolific that oh puts the worms into the bins and they survive= bearing in mind we are in the north east of scotland - the frozen north but its mild right now!! They have survived for quite some years and multiply good style!

[Old Speckled Hen]

What I was trying to say was that if you sited a compost bin on impermeable slabs you wouldn't get earthworms up into the compost.

I understand fully that introduced worms would do well.

I think the OP was asking about how to keep rats out of compost bins and where your solution was absolutely correct I just added that earthworms would be kept out of them and a better solution was to keep the bottom open with chicken wire while at the same time keeping any rat from tunelling up.

This solution is,of course, absolutely redundant if you are supplying the worms from the top.

I'm glad someone else seems to have just as many bins as I do....I can't keep up with all the garden/chicken/kitchen waste,let alone remembering to add paper and cardboard.

We even have two "a la Monty" that we put the lawnmower over.

[merlina]

I had mice in my compost and read that it was because the compost was too dry. I've been keeping it wetter ever since and have had no more signs of mice - so maybe that might help?

[Blackrocksrock]

What I was trying to say was that if you sited a compost bin on impermeable slabs you wouldn't get earthworms up into the compost.

I understand fully that introduced worms would do well.

I think the OP was asking about how to keep rats out of compost bins and where your solution was absolutely correct I just added that earthworms would be kept out of them and a better solution was to keep the bottom open with chicken wire while at the same time keeping any rat from tunelling up.

This solution is,of course, absolutely redundant if you are supplying the worms from the top.

I'm glad someone else seems to have just as many bins as I do....I can't keep up with all the garden/chicken/kitchen waste,let alone remembering to add paper and cardboard.

We even have two "a la Monty" that we put the lawnmower over.

#

I see what you are meaning about the earthworms too and when i add weeds I am sure there are some in the sods I dig out but yes it would stop them getting in from the bottom - I think the other 5 are okay!! - I have so many and most of them are full!!. Luckily they seem to go down each week before I add the chicken cleanings out!