The Poultry Keeper

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 479 Location: gwent

Well they decided to move in next to my chicken run in total i have a snap trap a cage trip trap a humane trap the trip trap worked once but have caught nothing since i used various methods before but these rats in the middle of our field seem to be wiser than their town rats they know how to remove the bait from the snap trap (i have visions of a rat poking it with a stick first

)they know how to get into our cage trip trap remove the bait and get out before the door shuts down dog

they must be really quick to do that and as for the humane multi catch all i caught so far was a dunnock! dontknow

i tried to get my old favourite the glue traps in countrywide and they had none so sourced some off e-bay which still have not turned up so me and dh are going military style now we bought a night vision monocular so we can see in the dark and are going to find out why things are not working and are going to suss out where is the best place to put the traps we know where the nest site is but cant gewt them out we smoked them out the other day they run off down the bank so know they are in there i have a new kitten that is going top be a ratting cat for us it was dumped by dh's works so he brought it home only problem is the rats are much bigger than the cat lol cat

.i do not really want to use poisen other than the fact it does not usually work i dont want my birds to pick it up either one of my other cats is an excellant hunter so i think i will be using her too to hunt them out cat

look's like the next few weeks will be a busy time for me as i want them gone what a nightmare confused2

how can they know what a trap is going to do to them?

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 479 Location: gwent

well yesterday the glue traps arrived i put 6 down we caught 10 rats small to medium size looks like they were from 2 different litters so dh disposed of them this morning before any birds got caught on them going to put more down tonight we will soon get them under control Smile

nigel · Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 10:39 am Post subject:

good luck with that sasha

poultry poofs · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:18 am Post subject:

Its the rat season Sasha, they will be moving into the warmer buildings for the winter and the nearby food.We have tried every humane system there is but they are very ingenious and find ways of defeating the measures you use.
Finally and reluctantly we opted for Tomcat 2 blocks wired into drainage piping near to or in rat runs so that the birds and other animals cant get the bait. Its not nice but it wipes them out. Sorry if that sounds mean and callous but you either have a rat plague or no rats. I know which I prefer. They spread disease and fleas and lice amongst your chooks and contaminate feed stocks and eggs with their urine and droppings. No thanks very much the rats must go facts of life I'm afraid.
I saw a recent estimate that there are approx 1.9 billion rats in this country and you are never statistically more than 10 feet away from one.

Yuck

Rich

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 479 Location: gwent

well we got them ha ha ! we caught another severn the snap trap had one which got eaten by another all i found was its intestine vile!then the snap trap caught another we have been up every night since with my monocular as the little sods were not at all frightened of us we could see where they were runnign to and hiding under a large stone in the run before the glue traps came and could see them going into our smaller run where we keep our other cockeral in a different house there were so many but this week after our glue trapping there has not been a single sight of any i even think the owl is a bit puzzled as he was coming each night and sitting in the trees in the run .

but as you said they are everywhere i may of got the ones out from the run but i went down to my woodshed to take out some fresh straw for my duck house and im sure i caught one out of the corner of my eye slipping out the door it was either a rat or a pretty big mouse my neighbour also has chickens so there probabley a few more around but at least we have 6them under control now if we just keep setting traps and do the glue traps on the weekends that should keep the numbers down Very Happy

poultry poofs · Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 4:55 pm Post subject:

Yep--just because you dont see them doesnt mean they aren't there, the minute you stop addressing the issue they will be back.Just like most pests,thats why I'm still here Laughing

Sparklepeeps · Joined: 17 Jan 2007 Posts: 1947 Location: Cheshire

My cat is quite a small cat, over the last 3 days he has brought two HUGE rats in (one alive!), which were only about 3 inches smaller than him! He has not had any smaller ones, so hopefully he has killed Mr and Mrs Rat before they had babies (she says hopefully).

Duckie · Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Posts: 201

they breed like, um, rats, so I wouldn't bet on it ... our cats kill them quite often and we still see two or three a week.

my OH teaches pest control and he swears that by far the best method for getting rid of large numbers is poison, although its not very nice to find the dead ones around and if one happens to die somewhere inaccessible its really quite unpleasant for you as well as the rat (I remember one in a cavity wall we had once which was really not nice).

Although poison in a rat bait box is nasty, its the only sure method of killing the rats and nothing else (the dose doesn't build up enough to poison other animals even if they're silly enough to eat a dead rat, which most animals won't as carrion isn't a popular food choice). It will also kill all the rats including the young quickly and without causing too much stress/fear. I know they need to die, but they are sentient animals just trying to survive - if you were born a rat you'd be doing exactly what they do Confused

IMHO, glue boards are the most horrific way of trapping going. I would really ask everyone to try not to use them. If you don't like poison then use a live trap and a hammer, a glue board just causes them so much distress

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 479 Location: gwent

we would of gone for the poisen method but our dogs if they spot anything dead like to pick it up unfortunatley i have seen my lab swallow things whole before i have even realized what it is! so i would not take a chance with poisen after seeing what it does to the rats when we use the glue traps we are right close by you can hear them when they get caught so dh just goes over and dispatches them will be using them again in the spring as over the past few months the population has risen again.

we do everything to stop them from not leaving food out overnight to sweeping up any spillages but they will always be around i was going to contact the cats protection league as they have taken on a load of ferals from a local industrial estate but im a bit worried they may not hang around with my dogs about the place Rolling Eyes

Sparklepeeps · Joined: 17 Jan 2007 Posts: 1947 Location: Cheshire

The cats protection league are advrtising working cats in this months practical poultry. I doubt the Cats Protection would rehome a cat to a home they felt was unsuitable, so why not ask them to come and do a home visit to discuss your needs? Is there any where safe and out of dogs reach that you could house them? ...Do your dogs have the run of the place 24/7 because if they live in doors with you at night that would give the cats plenty of time to hunt.

Keep us updated!

Auntie Noo · Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 555 Location: Guildford

I've just been to the local feed place for stuff, and was asking about their poisons as I have suddenly got quite a drastic rat problem (I think they've been flooded out of their usual riverside home across the road). The girl in there suggested phoning the council as they may be able to deal with them for free or at a discounted rate.... she said they will also be able to advise the best way to deal with the problem in your particular situation.

Has anyone tried this?

Gilly C · Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 2478 Location: South Cumbria

Our council do not provide a service anymore but we had some bait boxes they left here !! anyway I go some Tomcat it is the bait that goes on the metal rods set 4 boxes a week later no sign of the blighters I tried eradidat as I have 3 dogs absolutely rubbish they don't touch it but the Tomcat seems to have worked, you can see they are eating the poison as their droppings have a bluish tinge ! I have spring feeders so do not think they found much to eat but we have a drystone wall along one side of our property so millions of dry holes to shelter in !

CP · Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 6:56 pm Post subject:

Noo, try your local council - our did it for free recently. Wink

We usually keep bait stations around the garden but had a particularly bad infestation near the wild bird feeder.
I phoned the council, explained that we had a few chickens (even though it wasn't in the chicken's area) & they said it didn't matter.
The rat man came the same day, set baits & followed it up 'till they were all gone. Wink

Auntie Noo · Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 555 Location: Guildford

Thanks CP, that's good to know (that poison is proper expensive!!!) I'll try them on Thursday when I'm next at home.

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 479 Location: gwent

i have checked with my council they provide a service for residential areas where it is highly populated but not for agricultural private property and ground but then that is typical of our council but others may have a different policy.

regarding the cats we have plenty of shelter and nice straw sheds they can nestle safley in and the dogs would not hurt them i am just frightened they may spook the cats away from our land and end up heading towards the closest village you know what cats are like especially ferals.

my german shepard has a good nose for the rats she goes mad every time we catch one in the humane trap and she can go up to the nest site and tell me which hole they are in as she shoves her nose in there and barks just like a sniffer dog to tell me they are there it is just catching them as there are always the ones smart enough to outwit the traps i swear they are laughing at us

you know you mention the tomcat poisen where do you get that one from?i have seen the wheat based stuff in countrywide im just too afraid to use it but a solid block that is not as likley to be carried may be different as i guess they would stuff their pouches and take it straight to their burrows and into their food stash also i have the concern that in our area the are dormice and i would hate for any of them to fall prey to poisen its another reason i have not used any and just stuck to trapping.

i think i will give it a little more time and give the cats protection a ring and discuss it with them maybe they can access our site and tell us what they think as they obviousley deal with ferals a lot more and also it is another few mouths to feed and treat if any become ill so is an added cost we really need to think about. Rolling Eyes