[Dannii]

Hi!

I haven't got my chooks yet but today I came home and there was a HUGE dead rat in the back garden just lying on the patio. also about 8 months ago there was another dying rat in the garden. I know a few doors down they are having problems with rats living under their decking and they see them hanging from their bird feeders!! I have bird feeders and table but have never caught them on mine! Another attraction for the rats I'm sure is that my next door neighbours keep dogs in a kennel in the garden so I gues there is lots of available food lying about for them.

The enclosure i have built for the chooks I have buried small holed ckn wire 1ft under hoping this may help prevent them and the foxes getting in. is there anything else u recommend keeping in mind i also have a  small child running around the garden and dog and cat and at the end of this week chooks too!!!! Also do u think the Rats will still get in to the enclosure?

Thanks again for all your help and listening to my ramblings!!!

Dannii

[daz]

rats will either climb in if they want to get in or they are apparently more than capable of chewing through the wire

phone the council and have them send someone round its free as its part of the services your council tax pays for

[Dannii]

Hi Daz,

Thanks for that, just checked my local council website and they charge £52.88 even if they come round and find no reason for treatment!

[daz]

Hi Daz,

Thanks for that, just checked my local council website and they charge £52.88 even if they come round and find no reason for treatment!

if i were you i go in and speak to someone cause i had someone from the council call round 10 days ago and put down poison and he returned today to take them away all free of charge

and if anymore pop up ive got my rifle

[poultrygeist]

Hi Dannii.

Here's a bit of bedtime reading for you...

Discusses a few mthods of dealing with rats.

http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?t=9078

Enjoy !

Rob  

[daz]

i just checked my local council website and it also says 52.88 or 26.44 if on benefits but they did not inform me of any charges nor have i been sent any bill

and even if they do i will tell em where to stick it

might be worth a try you phoning and mentioning that u were told its free and see what they say

[Porffor]

we have a bucket of rat bait now.. halfway through and no sign of rats anymore.
We have children and dogs too but have 'hidden' the bait safely where little hands and paws can't get on them.
There are some great tips on the other section about chickens on rats (trapping/baiting etc). have a good old read!

[FCG]

I have rats living 3 doors down under someones decking. So far all they can be arsed doing is dropping poison down the cracks in the decking every so often. Effective? Like hell it is, they are rampant cheeky *. I see them sitting next to the next door neighbours rabbit eating its food! Also bold as brass stealing food from the fish pond as well.

Still, the neighbour has this staff dog that has ratting instincts right through him. Every time he is let out into the garden whenever nextdoors sees the rat/s he bounds after it and attempts to kill the *. My neighbour on the other side has a very barky dog as well. We also seem to be living where everyone has a cat. So i guess i have a very natural way of dealing with them!

But i think you need to get proactive and get a concerned and concerted effort together to get rid of them. They will just move to another local place and continue their visits. There was a 'poison' mentioned on here that makes them go pop which i am trying to order, that may suit you. Try to find small holes (anything larger than 1/2 inch) and lay some poison there. If you can keep your cooks inside the run for the entire time until you see either a reduction or elimination of the rat sightings.

From what i've seen with the rats and rabbit, if they can rig in or bite thorugh the wire they will be in like a flash.

[FCG]

I have rats living 3 doors down under someones decking. So far all they can be arsed doing is dropping poison down the cracks in the decking every so often. Effective? Like hell it is, they are rampant cheeky *. I see them sitting next to the next door neighbours rabbit eating its food! Also bold as brass stealing food from the fish pond as well.

Still, the neighbour has this staff dog that has ratting instincts right through him. Every time he is let out into the garden whenever nextdoors sees the rat/s he bounds after it and attempts to kill the *. My neighbour on the other side has a very barky dog as well. We also seem to be living where everyone has a cat. So i guess i have a very natural way of dealing with them!

But i think you need to get proactive and get a concerned and concerted effort together to get rid of them. They will just move to another local place and continue their visits. There was a 'poison' mentioned on here that makes them go pop which i am trying to order, that may suit you. Try to find small holes (anything larger than 1/2 inch) and lay some poison there. If you can keep your cooks inside the run for the entire time until you see either a reduction or elimination of the rat sightings.

From what i've seen with the rats and rabbit, if they can rig in or bite thorugh the wire they will be in like a flash.

[Kate and her Ducks]

Do whatever you can to get rid of them, they are a menace and a risk to your chooks. I used eradibait and it was great. Got cats so needed something non-toxic to them.

[blossom1044]

We have prob with rats as we back on to woodland which is not cleared by the owner. so there are years of over grown brambles which have died back and gown again.  Grat rat breeding ground.  We clear it about 20ft back from our fence, but they still come down.  

I never ring our council as they never really solve the problem enough and I have to pay £25 for the visit.  So for £25 a visit I decided bait & traps.  I use eradirat and some "advanced" rat trap catchers from b&q.  I have a humane trap, but it isn't very effective. In 4 years we've only ever caught 3 rats in it.  The traps are not for the squeamish as they kill the rat instantly by breaking it's neck.  They are on a hair trigger and really hurt if you get your thumb stuck in it.  I have them attached to a chain which is attached to the ground, so they can't take the trap away.  I also use a long piece of old large drain pipe secured down to put my bait and traps in.  this is because we have two dogs & a small child who'd eat the bait from the trays and the traps given the chance.  We've also got purpose made metal bait stations which is locked and secured down next to our rabbit hutch and chicken pen.  Our feed is in secure proper feed bins too which helps.  All our garage/shed/outbuildings are rat free as on a high shelf in each I leave a small amount of bleach in open topped bottles as they don't like the smell.

We occasionally find the Rats in the traps - stone dead and we rarely see a dead one from poision as apparently they go back to the nest to die.

I think the key is to put what ever method in the line of where they run and be consistent at rebaiting and checking them.  Dh does ours daily whhilst he has a ciggy in the garden.  The rats in our garden run down the hedge and between the flower pots.  We used to have a wooden shed which was raised off the floor which was perfect rat hiding ground.  the shed was torn down as we didn't need it anymore and the floor had been eaten and was rotting away.  We have a small bit of decking (4ft by 8ft) which has a trap and bait under, but they've never touched it because there is no food in the vicinity.

We've also stopped feeding the wild birds - 2 reasons the birds would knock the food over the floor and 2nd avian flu when we got the chickens was a concern and didn't want to increase the risk.  This has helped not encourage them.

this is my experience and you might not agree with the killing of the rats, but I don't like them and what disease they bring with them, so they die I am afraid.

[Ruby Red]

I live in Derbyshire and when I had just 1 rat in the garden the lady came and put poison down, then had a follow up visit a week later all at no charge. When I mentioned if it cost me she said hell no, we are obliged to deal with rat problems. Im not on benefits

[daz]

apparently a good way to to put bait down with out having to worry about other pets etc is too use a biscuit tin or similar and bury is about a foot deep and have a piece of old drain pipe leading under ground and into the tin where the poison is placed

[Bodger]

A lot of councils that once offered a free service  now charge.

[DeadlyNightshade]

I am wondering the whole time already:

what harm will rats do to my chickens?

Mine are on a large beef farm with copious amount of cattle meal all over the place... and there are rats, always, sometimes more, sometimes less (STORM poison works wonders!!!)... and no way of getting rid of them.

Are they really that bad for the chickens themselves?