Netball Dad Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Hello All, new poster here. I wondered if anyone had any advice and/or experiences with finding a rat or rats around their chickens? We have our 4 hybrids housed in an Eglu cube, in a triple length, double height run. We let then run around in the garden for a couple of hours before dark, they put themselves to bed and we then shut the cage up for the night. I've seen a rat in the cage a couple of times on these occasions recently. When I disturbed it, it escaped by climbing through the (bigger) gaps in the upper section of the cage. This also means, of course, there are plenty of entry points for it. Because we close the cage, we don't shut the Eglu door as this allows the hens to get out of bed before we do! However, is there is risk of a rat attacking the hens at night? I've stated to take the grub pot out of the cage at night and I'll see how this goes before I consider the nuclear option of putting something outside the cage to discourage them. Comments and thoughts much appreciated! Manny thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Hello, welcome to the forum. I've had a rat problem this year for the first time in nine years of hen-keeping. Although it's rare, yes rats can attack sleeping hens and they will spread disease. The only solution is to put down poison, removing feed at night etc will help but you need to get rid of them. Use bait boxes in areas where the hens (or anything else) might access it - in other areas, e.g. In my driveway where I have a wood pile, I made my own bait box by taping two plastic cartons together and cutting an opening in each end. Keep replacing the bait until it is no longer being eaten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chooksRCute Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 I had rats in the garden the 1st week I started with chooks. I paid the £30 for a pest inspection. It turned out that 3 neighbours, along the terrace had been seeing rats for several weeks & hadn't bothered to act. I was advised to put bait traps along their regular rat runs (easy to locate). Once the rats had taken the bait, not to bother 're baiting for 7days. Basically he said the poison takes a week to 10days to kill them and if you keep adding more bait or you're just feeding them! After the week bait again & see if any further activity and repeat process until no more bait taken. This worked for me, only had to bait twice. I now leave one baited trap down (behind the WIR) & check it weekly as advised its likely that a new lot will move in at some point - he located the nest to one property that has a rubbish heap piled up in an old collapsed garden shed, the owner being reluctant to remove it or be bothered by rats... Whatever strategy you decide to use, rats are very common apparently, and you just have to be vigilant & proactive. If you're taking the food & water in at night and clearing spilled food up they'll soon stop bothering with the run. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Netball Dad Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share Posted September 25, 2015 Many thanks, both! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
