[F1schuey]

Any good tips on keep mice, rats at bay??

[Kathie]

We got 2 cats and they are earning their keep .  Good husbandry is essential as any food spillage will encourage rodents.
Good luck

[joyfull]

most large fowl chickens will eat the mice but as for rats remove all feed at nights and don't give them anywhere to hide. If your coop is close to the ground then tack weld mesh underneath it to prevent the rats/stoats/weasels gnawing through

[helens-hens]

Hi F1schuey. I haven't seen any mice yet (though apparently hens are quite good with dealing with these themselves!) just 1 rat. However I am fairly sure the rat has been attracted by spilt wild bird seed (I have seen it in an area underneath where the hanging feeders are.

My hens run is placed on top of concrete slabs which should stop anything digging its way in. In the daytime their food is only inside this run and is removed & brought inside at night. Also I keep their food supplies inside. This seems to have prevented problems (so far!).

The other thing to be v.aware of is foxes. Do make sure your run is secure (use proper thick gauge weldmesh not chicken wire to help ensure a fox can't bite their way through. Depending on how secure your garden is even be wary if you are out in the garden.

Hope this helps

[hillfooter]

If you see rat runs (like little worn paths) outside your runs you have rats.  Neosorex (rat poison) in a bird proof dispenser (like a drain pipe with baffles to prevent the poison being scratched out.  Place securely upright along the run where the birds can't get to will sort them out.  Never use poison in open bowls where wild birds or Chx and other animals can get it and check for any poison drift outside the dispenser.  Top up while ever it's going down.

HF

[ManicMum]

I have heard of Eradirat & their website indicates that this is poisonous only to rats not birds/cats/dogs and carries no danger of secondary poisoning either.

This sounds too good to be true, so where's the catch?  With dogs, hens, children and nice wildlife, it should be the ideal solution.

Has anyone here used it safely and effectively?

[peter rooster]

Hi

I use ERADIRAT works fine for me, I have been in contact with the manufacture they have confirmed it only kills rats and not cats and dogs. I have a bait station I got with my first bucket. Away from the hen house and on my pheasant shoot I use SLAYMORE. I have a old car tyre and a board and weight to go over the top, the bait can then be put islde thye tyre were the tube would be. This keeps it dry and stops birds cats etc geting to it. The best trap I have found is a fenn type 4. I build a box to mount this in and place it on the rat run.

Peter Rooster

[ManicMum]

Thanks for that PR.  No downsides then for domestic use?

[alisonwo]

I tried eradibate but had little success with it.  I tried traps but now we have dogs so can't use them, in the garden we have 3 large compost heaps and the rats live in them as we have found tunnels, plus I feed the wild birds so they will be getting any of that which is left, and we have 3 large sheds in the garden with room underneath to hide under.  So we just try to keep the vermin down as much as possible using bait stations.  Don't try the waxy waterproof blocks if you have dogs, it cost me over £100 and heart palpitations with our dog when she came in all blue around the mouth from eating one, when I thought I had carefully hidden them around the garden, tasty to all animals not just vermin the vet said.

[F1schuey]

Thanks for all the advice... I too have a dog, so that was great advice.

[peter rooster]

Having dogs is not a problem with traps, I have two sringer spaniel gun dogs. Any trap set should only catch the target animal. All traps should be set this way. For fen traps I use a box with two holes in either end to lot rats in. The trap is set back so no leg neck of arm can reach it. Then it will only catch the target animal. I nornally sta rat traps against a wall in the shade/dark. The box enterance can be set back further by placing wood etc to hide the enterance even more.

peter rooster