Gape worm - Flubenvet dosage ?

[Rose94040 0]

There are two large-ish openings at the bottom rear of the run (under the coop) that allow rats to get in. How are these to be secured? any ideas?

[Cat tails 936]

Small gauge welded wire will be almost your only choice. But don’t be lulled in safety when you closed those gaps. Rats can actually get through the rest of the wire as well, although with more difficulty. There are videos of them squeezing through the holes in the run.

You can discourage them by removing food and water at night.

[mullethunter 602]

I actually disturbed a smallish rat in my run earlier this year, and after it ricocheted around the run at warp speed a couple of times (was actually very funny) it forced itself through the mesh as Cattails says - it wasn’t easy but it did manage to squeeze through with a bit of wriggling.

[Luvachicken 523]

As Cat tails has suggested, you need to cover with smaller wire.

We covered the whole of my Omlet run in 1cm square wire because a fat rat squeezed in and out of the run.

This is my video of it - I find it funny how its bottom end gets stuck.

Rat video

[Florence 0]

Gosh , we are looking at getting the walk in run and I was really hoping it would be rat secure, not that we would have to add even more protection on top. C'est la vie

[Luvachicken 523]

3 hours ago, Florence said:

Gosh , we are looking at getting the walk in run and I was really hoping it would be rat secure, not that we would have to add even more protection on top. C'est la vie

Yes, it's a shame that Omlet don't do something about it and make their runs with smaller wire.

12 years ago, the reason I bought my Cube and run, was because Omlet specifically said it was rodent and fox proof. They don't have that on their information pages any more. 

[Patricia W 340]

No Omlet run is rodent proof.  To be fair, they do not claim that it is.  The WIR is the worst.  I’ve probably said this before ( sorry!) but I’ve had to cover the top half with 1/2 inch weldmesh 16g weight to prevent rats and small birds just walking/flying in.  Even then, just before AI lockdown, I found a blue tit in there, obviously getting in through the lower bars!  

The gaps you highlight in the picture, I’ve covered with weldmesh too.   But the best way to defeat the rats, is to take in food AND water in at night.  They can’t digest food without water so will move away to find a better source.  Also slab the inside of the run.