[grumpydad]

just like red mite, i keep putting the diatom, poultry shield, and everything else i can find to stop them, and have not seen any, same with the rats, make sure it is down to stop any getting a toe hold and reproducing

[karlooben]

  talknig about me not seeing anything for a long time , i went out there this mornnig at 6,15 to let them out  and i picked up the little food bowl i use to scoop out the food with an guess what there was a tiny little mouse under it maybe i should not spoken to soon 

[grumpydad]

did it run off, or did the chucks get it ? lol, have not seen any mice for a long time under the shed.

[karlooben]

it ran of as i stroked it  the girls were not out then.  of to eat chinese be back later 

[alisonwo]

We had rats before we had chickens, we have 3 large compost bins and they live in the bin, ignoring the traps.  The dog got one once, but I know we still have another.  Strangely my hubby says he doesn't mind the rat as it eats all the snails in the garden.  Not so sure I agree here and keep trying to get the damn thing, but zilch so far with the bait station.  Was wondering whether to get a rat trap, but then what do you do with it!

[grumpydad]

throw it in the bin, but take the rat from the trap first, a neighbour borrowed a couple of mouse traps, when she had caught the mice, she threw them in the bin, still in the traps, she thought you used them once and then threw them away !!!

i of couse then had to go out and buy myself more traps,

lol

[8doubles]

We had rats before we had chickens, we have 3 large compost bins and they live in the bin, ignoring the traps.  The dog got one once, but I know we still have another.  Strangely my hubby says he doesn't mind the rat as it eats all the snails in the garden.  Not so sure I agree here and keep trying to get the damn thing, but zilch so far with the bait station.  Was wondering whether to get a rat trap, but then what do you do with it!

A couple of times when moving shed bases i have found heaps of a couple of dozen empty snail shells that have been  eaten by mice , if they would just eat these and not chew the contents of the sheds to pieces i would happily put out food for them instead of traps.

[matilda duck]

We have rats in our garden due to the fact we have a brook at the bottom of the garden!  We get the council pest control out!  Free and he tends to treat the problem and leave boxes about to help!  Oh and he offers us chickens , fruit , goats! ect from the various farms he visits

remove any feeds at night as that is just asking for trouble!

[ScottBarton]

GOTCHA!!!!

Bought a rat trap from Robert Dyas. First night i set it and Bingo!!!

The little person had a network of tunnels under the paving slabs in the run. The night before i caught him i actually spotted him sitting in his nest under a slab before he jumped and ran off down the garden.
I prepared a lovely cocktail consisting of a few layers pellets, corn, topped with a chocolate Malteser.  



Have reset the trap in case there are others.

[GrannieAnnie]

It was the malteser that did the trick Scott!!!   

[death of rats]

Exactly.

I have also just rang my local gun shop and i can get a complete .22 air rifle set up for £150.

Hmmmm.....tempted.

DONT it will be a load of rubbish for that money. Probably cheap, Chinese and inaccurate.
Go to your local gunshop and look for a second hand Air Arms, BSA or Wierauch. These will cost you about £200 for one in decent condition.
It will be a spring gun not a Pre Charged Pneumatic which will cost you in the order of £500 with the air bottle essential to charge them up. Dont believe them if they tell you to use a pump.

My scope cost more than that comlete set up but I can put a .22 hunting pellet through a 1p size target time after time at 25 yards. You cant do that with a Chinese cheapy.



You always have rats near you and it gets worse in the autumn as they move off the fields which have no cover left.
I shoot and trap them. I wont let my dogs near to them as they have no immunity to lepto. Cats are immune. Lead poison is the most effective but if you see one then you have a problem. They do not live alone.

[stamford]

Yep, we have rats... Quite a few of the * aswell  I know a couple of pest controllers so I put some bait stations down, the only problem there is that the rats take the bait and drop bits in the chicken area  :blink: obviosley dont want to poison the chooks so I had to move the bait stations out and I bought a couple of live capture traps... Worked a treat, managed to trap 5 in 5 nights and duly dispatched with the air rifle ( only as I thought the shotgun would upset the neighbours at 06.00 in the morning  ) Anyway, all going to plan till I trapped a squirrel, now I dont like those * either but as I didnt check the trap in the morning, when I got home that evening the poor thing was on its last legs.... Dont like doing that, if your gonna kill something, make sure its quick and humane... Lesson leant, I now check traps every morning....  Keep the live traps down and you'll soon get rid of them

[Bonniebean]

Although I don't have my chickens yet, I did have a rat earlier this year because I feed the wild birds. I actually put the poison pellets at the top of their tunnel, and because she was breeding she took it down to the babies. When the bait stopped going I filled the tunnel in. Not pleasant to do but necessary. I had to be very careful because of the hedgehogs, dog, frogs etc, but the field mice actually carried some into the top of the composter which I had to scrape clean very carefully!
When I put my run in place I will lay a mesh skirt under paving slabs all around the perimeter, I am now neurotic about rats.......!

[raeburg]

We have stupid rats - they ate the bait from the box in the shed before I put it in the bait boxes!

[pink-chicken]

We have a rat/rats too which I believe come in from old factories that back on to our long back garden. I'm really careful with spillages of girlies food and any they are given can't be eaten by rats as their large outer pen is completely encased with mesh. I had to stop feeding wild birds around a year ago so as not to attract more rats but they are still out there. A couple of days ago I noticed large freshly dug earthworks spilling out from under the garden shed  These animals are very clever and now rarely get caught out by the 'nipper' rat traps. We are calling in the council rat man soon as he puts poison down and I believe the service is free. I hate the thought of killing them too but understand that it's necessary because of the diseases they carry. I'm lucky that my hubby and son deal with traps and any dead rats (on the rare occasion one may fall foul of a trap) 

Jan.x