[virgotiger]

i've just received a letter from the council as someone has complained that my garden is attracting rats..although the letter says its to do with some rubbish i have in my garden i do have 6 chickens, guinea pigs and rabbits i dont leave food out over night and i have not seen any rats or any sign of rats,droppings etc the rubbish i have is an old settee and a few bits of wood and a kids slide. i'm worried now that the council when they come and inspect will automatically blame my pets and make me get rid of them..any advice? i do keep my garden clean although the chickens have  the run of my garden.

[craig1981]

if its your own home or rented privately as long as there is nothing on your property deeds saying you cant keep poultry then they cant do much to make you get rid . Countless folks keep rabbits and other animals so that wont be an issue . They can issue you with a tidy up order but the place would have to be in a total state for them to do that . Whatever the cause of the rats if its your fault you will be given time to get the matter right so i wouldnt worry too much . good luck with it all

[virgotiger]

it is council property but nothing as far as i can remember said that i couldnt keep a few chickens, i assumed it was only if you had over 50 you had to notify anyone. i know who made the complaint as they made one before when i asked if they were going to put up a new fence(they own their house and its their fence and badly broken) the council refused to do it so they tried to blame my dog..even though i havent got one lol!! not sure where all this has come from though as they havent mentioned a rat problem to me! i'm just worried i'll be made to rehome my chickens or worse i'll have to have them put down.

[Swing Swang]

If you do have rats around it's as much in your interest as theirs to keep them under controll. Unfortunately in a residential area it's impossible for one person acting alone to address the problem. From personal experience it's a war of attrition that eventually becomes quite enjoyable! (8 this year already). Fortunately I have excellent neighbours who I can 'share' the problem with and who all practice vermin control (although none of us keep fowl) - now if the local t*sc* m*tr*, who's adolescent-loitering-littering-customers, were to be just as responsible (actually I blame the parents not the company)maybe we'd have a permanent solution...

SS

[joyfull]

the 50 number is when you have 50 of any sort of birds (ducks, geese, hens etc in total) that you have to register with Defra (although a lot of us are registered with less than that amount anyway).
If the house is rented then you should ask for permission, but before you do I would get rid of the rubbish to try to get rid of the rats, they are vermin and will eat the eggs and chew through the coup. If your garden is then clean and tidy when they inspect and with the chicken run all looking as it should do then hopefully you will be ok (don't give then a reason to say it's the chickens).

[Henlady]

Why do you have a settee in your garden?  Why not chop it up and burn it if you can't get it to the tip.

[virgotiger]

cant burn my settee as last time i had a bonfire i got a complaint...just waiting to get rid of it as i'm decorating my house and will have more rubbish so thought i'd get rid of it all at once! i've had a good clear out today and no sign of any rats.....its just one neighbour got it in for me for some reason..he has a bird table in his garden so maybe i will complain about that!! he also has a rottweiler that craps all over his garden...i also live right next to a river so plenty of wildlife nearby. i've had my chickens for a year now so not sure why they have suddenly decided there's a rat problem. other than the settee i keep my garden as clean and tidy as possible i have 4 kids so wouldnt want rats either!

[Sassy]

The smoke from burning a sofa would be very toxic and I would have thought defo get you into trouble!!