The Poultry Keeper

El Pollo Diablo · Posted: Wed May 31, 2006 1:07 pm Post subject: Rats and cats

I am about to get some hens, and both us and the previous occupants of our house have had rat problems in the garden in the past. My (visible) rat issue went away when I dug up all their tunnels and moved the compost bin that they had moved into, but I suspect when the hens arrive the rats might move back.

My worry is my cat: he eats anything and everything - birds, mice, grass, bits of random stuff he finds on the floor. Will he a)eat some rat poison and die horribly or b)find a dead rat and eat that and die horribly? I would be devastated if I accidentally poisoned him... Confused

Zooey · Joined: 06 Feb 2006 Posts: 82 Location: East Sussex

We currently have the same problem, although our cats are kept to our garden and field using a "Freedom Fence". It's unlikely a cat would eat poison - they're far too finicky for that, but they could easily be killed if they ate a dead rat. Our Merlin caught, killed and nibbled on 6 rats in just 11 days. He's still catching the odd one or two and we've got a few with a rat zapper, but we can't keep up with them. We've looked at "safe" poisons, but the info on their web sites doesn't guarantee it won't harm domestic pets Sad

Knobby · Posted: Wed May 31, 2006 9:13 pm Post subject:

Wouldnt having a cat be deterent enough ?

mojo · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 10:24 am Post subject:

DONT USE POISON it will kill cats, i know we lost a cat by eating a dead rat, use snap traps and cage traps they work very well ...bait with peanut butter or mars bar ( yes i know its crazy but it works) and check every day.............place along a wall or fence where they run for best results.............regards.mojo

El Pollo Diablo · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 10:47 am Post subject:

My cat isn't a deterrent to anything, in fact we never saw a mouse in the house till he arrived! He does catch stuff, but it seems not enough to keep them away. Not a proper tom any more though, maybe if we'd left him intact he'd have been more effective, if smellier! Silenced

El Pollo Diablo · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 10:48 am Post subject:

p.s. won't a snap trap catch the cat too??

CP · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 12:01 pm Post subject:

Well yes, it will catch anything that goes in it, given the chance!
You'll have to put something over the top, enough to stop anything else getting in it, but leaving enough room for rats & mice. Wink

Earadirat is supposed only to kill rats & nothing else.

http://www.natrocell.com/index.html

If you search the site, it tells you that it will not poison cats or dogs if the carcass is eaten by them.

You can buy it from these people, among others if you search, no doubt.

http://www.ascott.biz/cat47_1.htm

Hope that helps a little. Wink

El Pollo Diablo · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 12:24 pm Post subject:

Thanks, I looked at the websites and it does seem to say that it it safe for anything except rodents, so I think I'll order a tub. No evidence of rats at the moment, but I imagine they are around somewhere: would it be best to wait for them to re-appear before putting out bait or will they just come and eat it anyway? I know the location they were in before... Twisted Evil

CP · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 12:38 pm Post subject:

Most people's opinions seem to be that where you've had rats, you will always have them on & off, especially with chickens about.

We don't have a cat ourselves now (sadly departed over a year ago. Crying or Very sad

) but there are several neighbouring ones so we looked at bait that was safe too.

I would start as you mean to go on & keep the bait stations stocked with it at all times. I think it will be easier rather than let them get well established before you do anything. Wink

We had our chickens for nearly 5 years before we had rats. Plenty of mice, but no rats!
However, we managed to get rid of a bad infestation recently, but in the last few days the bait has been nibbled again, so we know they are still around.

Hopefully we can keep the problem to a minimum now though. Wink

mojo · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 7:06 pm Post subject:

put snap traps in side plastic drain pipes ,push into the centre, so pussy cant get in ,lay along walls

El Pollo Diablo · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 7:24 pm Post subject:

aha! cunning!

mojo · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 7:26 pm Post subject:

and bloody effective too,i am a nasty so an so

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

I used Eradirat ~ it's supposed to dry the offending creature out ~ so no smells either when it dies.
I would be inclined to be putting the stuff out now before you get your girls as it can take a while for a rat to feel comfortable with things that change ~ eg rat poison in its run. This way when they move back in they will just see it and hopefully eat it