Chicken bald back

[gavclojak]

Oh my word I have a rat problem. I noticed something moving in my enclosure and came to horrific realisation I have rats...plural.....

I spent two days coving every single tiny hole with £90.00 worth of galvanised steel..they still got in, so I also watched and blocked the gaps I saw them getting through but it's a loosing battle, they just find another way in. It's become a war of attrition.

I have now resorted to two bait boxes with blue blocks of poison, I have half buried the box near to where they seem to graze on dropped pellets.

It's Been two days and no takers as yet????? My worry is they will not take the bait if they are finding dropped bits of food. I make sure the food/ water is put away at night and drake over the Area. Am I missing anything?

Should I se how it goes or add some seeds/corn to the bait boxes to tempt them in?

I

[clucker1]

Worse case scenario it can take 2-3 weeks to get the little blighters in. Make sure the bait station is in a kind of run ie under a ledge or something, ie somewhere they can hide. Only touch your bait station with gloves on or else your smell will put them off. I would think with the cold weather it won't take long for them to take the bait. Then leave it there and make sure your bait stations remain topped up. I chatted to our pest control consultant at work recently and he advised the level of poison us mortals can buy over the counter/online is low in the bait feed, so the bait needs to remain full so the little darlings can consume as much as possible. Good luck! I hate rats with a vengeance !!

[gavclojak]

I'm actually feeling really guilty about having to do it but I have honestly tried everything else. I have been wearing gloves, one is half buried and the other is hid under a rabbit hutch on the outside of the run, I'm sure they hide under there as there are chew marks on the bottom of the cover.....that one can be moved to inside the run if there are no takers from that one in a few more days

[Olly]

Keep going with the bait boxes - as said above, it can take two to three weeks to get results. I had rats last year and it was a horrid shock. Bait is the only solution, and removing food at night. I don't know what sort of feeder you're using, I have a round plastic one suspended from the roof of the run and I get very little spillage. It might be worth looking at an alternative to reduce spillage.

[gavclojak]

Thanks Olly, I think I have the same as you, plastic gravity feeders hanging from the roof. I was worried about spillage so went from mash to pellets but inevitably some does end up on the floor but to be honest not that much, I do rake over the ground to try to dissipate it.

 

I'm just really worried they are filling up on the tiny amount that's left on the floor and won't take the bait

 

I guess living in an urban environment I knew they were about but seeing them scurrying around my run is just plain nasty

[clucker1]

Gavclojak, don't feel guilty....they are vermin and carry disease. You are definitely best off without them. Just a thought if you contact your council, they might offer a pest removal service. Our council used to do this for free, but now they charge so it's cheaper to do it myself.

[Mars]

Rats are neophobic animals

They will take the bait but it will take a few days for them to do so and a few days more for the bait to take effect

[Blackrocksrock]

Keep at it as once they start on that bait they will keep at it.

I bought a hopper and no more problems.

[gavclojak]

Thanks guys....another question

 

The boxes have been down since Wednesday evening and on checking this morning the one placed outside the run has been eaten, a surprisingly large amount so I have topped it up and put it back but the one I placed inside the run next where I always see them ( where the food stations would hang if they were not away for the night) has not had a nibble...should I move that one? Carry on as I am? Pop something on the bait boxes like peanut butter to tempt them in? Are they ignoring the one inside the run as they are foraging for the leftovers instead although I can't see any leafovers and I rake it over and spread sanitizer??

 

Also....I know sorry....I'm worried it's two separate colony's of rats? Is that possible so close together? Or do you think the takers from outside are one and the same.

All in all the boxes are about ten foot apart

[Olly]

I wouldn't change anything, because they'll have to get used to it all over again. If they're eating from one bait box that will be enough, just be patient and keep topping up the bait every few days.

 

I refilled mine every time it emptied but I recall someone else on here saying that it takes a few days to work so you're just feeding them bait to no effect, I don't know if that's correct. I was just so keen to get rid of them I fed as much bait as they'd take!

[gavclojak]

Thanks again olly..from my extensive research:( I think the bait box needs to be refilled because the effects are accumulative so they need to eat for a few days then it will take another few days for them so succumb...

[Mars]

( I think the bait box needs to be refilled because the effects are accumulative so they need to eat for a few days then it will take another few days for them so succumb...

That is what I would do, not much to lose anyway just the price of the bait, and if new rats are coming or more cautious ones are around who didn't take the bait in the beginning you would miss those

[Beantree]

We have a good cat so daren't use poison of any kind. She climbs into the chicken enclosure at night and seems to be keeping the place clear. A bit of a worry in respect that if she can get in what else can? Longer term we will build a far more secure enclosure and put her in it at night, leaving all the runs and sub-enclosures open so she gets full access.

[clucker1]

Gavclojak, keep up the good work rats are vile and need to be got rid of. I don't like killing things either. Yes, the Rodent Control officer at work told me it's the cumulative effect for us domestic poison users. He advised me to keep the bait boxes out after I thought the rats had gone too and I just check the bait is still full every now and then.

[gavclojak]

We have a good cat so daren't use poison of any kind. She climbs into the chicken enclosure at night and seems to be keeping the place clear. A bit of a worry in respect that if she can get in what else can? Longer term we will build a far more secure enclosure and put her in it at night, leaving all the runs and sub-enclosures open so she gets full access.

 

I know the problem which is why i went for The Big Cheese Bait products that use the active ingredient, Difenacoum. Difenacoum baits are highly effectively against both rats and mice but are much safer to non-target animals such as cats and as they come in blocks there is no spill to speak of but that said i do check before letting the girls out as one is near their feed station

[Beantree]

The concern I have Gavclojak is not that the cat may eat the bait itself, but that the cat may eat a poisoned (but still moving) rat and get poisoned that way. We also have owls which might eat poisoned rats or mice.

 

We used to use large snap traps buried in the rat runs and ridge tiles, but they come with a host of problems in themselves, one of which is breaking your fingers whilst trying to set them.

[Margaret]

Hate rats.....

You said you had spent a lot of money covering the gaps, sorry if this is a silly question ...but do you have a roof on your enclosure?

[gavclojak]

Hate rats.....

You said you had spent a lot of money covering the gaps, sorry if this is a silly question ...but do you have a roof on your enclosure?

 

not a silly question...yes I have a roof but the little B******** are getting in through the tiny raised parts of the corrugated plastic roof and I have no way of securing the chicken wire to that... I have tried

[Margaret]

We did have the same problem, can you not make a new flat roof inside the corrigated plastic and put wire ot that , so that it is actually a huge wired box that the hens are in...hope you understand what I am quite badly trying to discribe

[gavclojak]

I guess it's possible but the enclosure is a huge approx 18 foot across by 16 foot deep..practically the whole of the top of the garden and I fear as soon as I block one way they are finding another was in:(

[Princess Leia]

...yes I have a roof but the little B******** are getting in through the tiny raised parts of the corrugated plastic roof and I have no way of securing the chicken wire to that... I have tried

 

Try this http://www.screwfix.com/p/vistalux-corrugated-asb-3-pvc-sheet-eavesfillers-white-680-x-650mm-pk-24/31599

[gavclojak]

Thanks leia...I didn't even know that exsisted. I am going to continue with the bait as I fear as soon as I block a hole they will find another way in.

 

I am a tad worried because one of the boxes inside the run has been down for 6 nights and no takers as yet but the one outside about ten foot awayhas been eaten so not sure why the inside one isn't getting eaten.

[clucker1]

I wouldn't worry, I've been in the same boat, they favoured one bait station over another for some reason or other! The good thing is they are feeding from one station so it's working

[gavclojak]

I wouldn't worry, I've been in the same boat, they favoured one bait station over another for some reason or other! The good thing is they are feeding from one station so it's working

Gosh...im just hoping its the same colony eating it? what's the odds of two colony's living very close together?

[clucker1]

Haven't a clue how close they live together I'm afraid. Googled it and came across way too much rat info for my liking.