[leddenton]

Have had my 2 girls for 2yrs with no probs of rats.they have a coop with an upstairs and all food is taken in at night. They don't have scraps loose only in with their pellets and a small handful of corn before bed. We noticed 2 big wholes at the base of the trees in their corner of the garden which is fenced off for them and my husband saw a rat today! He has borrowed a humane trap as doesn't want to kill any other wildlife but no luck. Any advise much appreciated.

[janette]

rats do like chocolate if you are putting it in a cage trap but they will keep coming back if you just set them free

[joyfull]

it is illegal to set a rat free if you catch it. They are vermin and must be disposed of.

[leddenton]

He doesn't intend to release it/them but what is the most effective way of disposing of them? A neighbour suggested drowning but my hubby hasn't had to deal with this before. Seems horrible but we can't have rats about!

[joyfull]

Yes drop the trap into a barrel or large bucket of water with a weight on it. Not nice I know and I know it's not the rats fault that it's vermin but they do have to be controlled as the breed very quickly.
Sorry as has been pointed out this methos is not legal so can no longer recommend it as a way of disposing, (hand well and truly slapped).

[leddenton]

Thanks for advice.    Will pass on info to my hubby as i couln't do it!

[lucylou]

it is illegal to set a rat free if you catch it. They are vermin and must be disposed of.

it is also illegal to drown them

[joyfull]

Ok so lets look at what other methods are available.
For eradication.
The best way is by snap traps (like giant mouse traps)and fen traps are the best and instant, electricution traps - again instant, poison takes a few days (and depending on which type could also work on other wildlife  ), glue pads are slow and nasty, gun - not everybody has or wants one, terrier - again not everybody has one or even some of those who do find their dogs don't have the natural instinct, bash on the head but again not everybody can do this, gassing but you really need to know what you are doing. Any more methods?
Prevention is probably the best method overall - keep your area clean and free from excess feed (sweep up daily and don't leave food lying around).
Store food in a metal container (I use metal dustbins to store mine in).
Store your feed containers away every night.
Any rats were probably there before you had the chickens it's just that you may never hadve noticed them, I live next to fields and a beck so will never ever get rid of the rats but I just follow the above prevention methods  .

[lisa80]

Has anyone ever tried eradibait? i was thinking of giving it a go as its supposed to be safe for dogs ,kids and chickens etc :)it might be worth a go 

[Swing Swang]

To kill a live caught rat (legally) shoot it with an air rifle - they're usually inquisitive enough to come up to the barrel of the weapon if you point it between the bars too, so a lethal, humane, head shot at point blank range is assured.

SS

[8doubles]

When you have caught the rat empty the cage into a plastic bin bag and then give the rat a whack with a piece of stout wood. This is  a two people with gloves on job .
A low powered air pistol fired into the cage over a soft surface (soil or grass) is a simple one person job.

[joyfull]

Has anyone ever tried eradibait? i was thinking of giving it a go as its supposed to be safe for dogs ,kids and chickens etc :)it might be worth a go 

I do believe that a lot of people on here have with good results  

[lisa80]

Thanks joyful will buy some in  we dont have a problem as such but being on an allotment they are always going to be around 

[8doubles]

Eradibait works by disrupting the message system to the rodents brain causing it to stop  drinking.This leads to dehydration, blood thickening, kidney disfunction, coma and EVENTUAL DEATH. It takes 4-7 days to work.

Make your own minds up but if i was reincarnated as a rat the illegal water butt treatment would be a preferable way to die .

[joyfull]

Unfortunatly as it is illegal as has been quite correctly pointed out we cannot condone this method.