The Poultry Keeper

thehenman · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 171 Location: lincolnshire

first you need to buy a fen trap then put it into a box with 2 holes in easy Very Happy

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MK-4-FEN-TRAP_W0QQitemZ220166300790QQihZ012QQcategoryZ75581QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 502 Location: gwent

right i see now it is like a snap trap i have a snap trap it is one of these e-bay Item number: 200167062516 we caught 2 in it so far but i have not set it for ages we disposed of the first catch but the rats ate whatever was on it the second time around !i am going up the field today to re locate all our traps and set them as i have not done them for a few weeks now as have not had the time.
Smile

with the fen trap what is the chain in aid of? i saw one of the rats last night whilst i was up there im going up to take 15 chicks up to their new run today so have a busy day ahead of me as well as fixing my electric fence Rolling Eyes

thehenman · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 171 Location: lincolnshire

the chain is for staking the trap down,i wouldnt waste my money and time messing around with cage traps snap traps or anything other than a fen trap, a well placed fen trap will catch rats all the time and you dont need to bait them
you must remember though while you keep any animals in your gardens etc you are always going to attract unwanted vermin and a trapping/killing regime must be in place all the time ,i have caught over 20 mice in my chicken shed with my new rat zapper and then the other night was the first night with no kill so i presume ive cleared all the mice up until last night when i got another,my traps are set 24/7 Very Happy

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 502 Location: gwent

well my fen trap arrived today so i popped up the field earlier and grabbed all the scrap bits of wood i could find to make a box for it to go in wish me luck lets hope i catch some rats p.s i do have a cat i actually have 5 but unfortunatley 4 of them only ever catch mice and the other one is about the size of a rat lol he was dumped down my dhs woks so dh brought him home i think he will have the ratting instinct once he is big enough we take him up and down occasionley when we go up but next summer im sure he can stay the night in our inner enclosure that way he will not get lost and it will be nice and cosy on the straw just lying in wait for the rats to all come out to play:D

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 502 Location: gwent

Well thats my fenn trap in place i made a nice box drilled some large holes either end large enough so just a rat could get in i also put in two boards inside to make it sort of like a maze so any birds would not venture in too far and get hurt only a rat would be that nosey and i placed it right next to my compost heap me and dh decided to try and lift the heap earlier just out of curiosity so we got a large bar as the base is a crate and levered it up slightly sure enough two big rats came steaming out they obviousley have no intenetions of going near my other traps so maybe somthing new will catch them out Very Happy

thehenman · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 171 Location: lincolnshire

i have 4 traps set permanantly and my rat zapper Very Happy

yet to get a rat with that yet Sad

but i find i can go weeks and not catch a rat and then all of a sudden i might catch a couple in one night ,i reckon ive cleared my resident rats and alli catch now are the wandering ones who are out hunting Very Happy

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 502 Location: gwent

well im not sure what is going on i have not caught any in weeks not even on the new trap i bought one of the electric zappers now too it arrived this morning so i set it up this evening somthing has to be getting at the feeds during the day whilst im not around as our birds have never consumed so much before i know they are probabley eating a bit more due to the cold but not as much as whats is being taken our feeders are off the ground in the houses im hoping the zapper will deal with any mice there are around as well i have every trap you can possibley think of in place around various spots the rats just seem to know to avoid them all even with peanuts,peanut butter,chocolate,raisens,bird seed,layers and corn as temptation i know they are there as i saw one the other day as it ran off as i pulled up in the car fingers crossed they will fall into one of them soon its probabley because they are new and they are a little weiry of them Rolling Eyes

thehenman · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 171 Location: lincolnshire

always put your fen traps against a wall or fence ,not out in the open as rats like to run along the bottoms of fences etc

thehenman · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 171 Location: lincolnshire

oh and dont forget too screw the trap down Confused

i had a rat in mine and its took my trap Very Happy

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 502 Location: gwent

hiya just thought i would update on the zapper i never got around to using it until last week when i remembered to charge the batteries but thought i would post to let others know and also to find out how many yours has caught too?i put it down on the weekend and put some mixed corn inside went to let the birds out in the morning we had a rat! and again on sunday we caught another young rat nothing lastnight we have had a few in the fen trap too over the past few weeks so at least they are doing their job Very Happy