Rats :(

[Jimster]

I spotted a pair of rats in my chicken run on the weekend, as soon as they saw me they legged it and I closed the door. I found out they are living in my greenhouse under the patio slabs, I have put poison blocks around where they are and they keep getting eaten (or moved under ground).

I'm worried about the rats moving the poison to where the chickens can get to.

Do rats drag there food around???

For the moment I've locked the chickens in there run, but they are missing out on the run of the garden.

[Two_Sheds]

Do rats drag there food around?

definitely.
I didn't know I even had rats until I dismantled my old shed ... and found half a dozen chewed corn cobs underneath it.

[di]

We have a similar predicament....watched 3 baby rats running around our chook run(whilst the chooks were busy helping us dig),although we've been assured it's safe to use poison(apparently as long as you frequently check there's no poisoned rat lying around for the chooks to peck at),still a little unsure,???(nuisance that I know they are....gotta say they were also kind of cute!!)

[lynda66]

rats will usually take food back to their nest to munch at their leisure if theres plenty of it. ie like the poison wax blocks ..... if theres only a bit of the seed kind they will usually eat it in situ

[Jimster]

ok so far they must have taken around 20 of the poison blocks, so I assume I should keep putting the blocks down untill they stop taking it.

Has anyone ever tried this stuff,
EradiBait Rat and Mouse Killer 500 gram Tub - Rat and Mouse Bait
they say it's safe for chickens.

[pipscariad]

ok so far they must have taken around 20 of the poison blocks, so I assume I should keep putting the blocks down untill they stop taking it.

Has anyone ever tried this stuff,
EradiBait Rat and Mouse Killer 500 gram Tub - Rat and Mouse Bait
they say it's safe for chickens.

Yes, we used it last winter when we had a bit of a mouse infestation in the attic. It worked, although it was a bit of a tricky concept to get your head round after the conventional stuff. I have to say I still wouldn't feel very happy about it around chooks - if it kills mice and rats, what makes it safe for a hen? But I appreciate you need to get rid of them, so give it a go! Good luck!

I suspect that all of us chicken keepers have rats around, it's just that we don't all see them....

[pipscariad]

Just read the blurb about that Eradi bate stuff, and it does sound okay for use around hens doesn't it - I'm still a bit stumped why it kills rats though! But as I said, it did work for our mouse problem. Go for it.

[Capsid]

Just read the blurb about that Eradi bate stuff, and it does sound okay for use around hens doesn't it - I'm still a bit stumped why it kills rats though! But as I said, it did work for our mouse problem. Go for it.

Eradibait dehydrates and slowly kills the rat. There's something special about rat guts apparently in the way that they absorb water. I can't find out what that is yet.

[lynda66]

20 of the poison blocks should wipe out a small army of rats lol ...... leave em hungry for a few days and they should actually eat what you've given them, at the moment they will be stockpiling it for winter, if theres no other readily available food, they should actually eat it.

[Jimster]

That was my thoughts, take all other food from them, so they have to eat the poison, thats why I don't leave the chicken run door open, the girls are locked in and don't like it much

The Rats can't get to there food in the run, and and can't get to the chicken feed store (as it's in a metal cabinet) but there is fallen apples from the tree's all over the garden.

[lynda66]

all you can do is remove as much food from them as you can, or maybe add a grain type poison too, as they will eat that in situ, then go back and eat the blocks when everything else has gone........... we had a problem a few years ago with them under the floorboards, they came from a derelict house at the end of the terrace i lived in ...... they took every block we put down ...... and the rat lady put down packets full of seed, they just dragged everything back to the nest .... took about a month fo them to go, cos they just stockpiled everything ....... when they eventually got into the house, there was a huge pile of poison in the cellar......... so if you just put small piled of poisoned grain down, they will eat it, then when they start to feel a bit poorly, will go back to the nest, and not come out, and munch on the stuff they've stockpiled.

[Hilary B]

You might like to try the less toxic version. I've only read about this one, and it sounds pretty barbaric, but effective.
It needs placing where nothing BUT rats will get to it, and it has to be a dry spot. Mix some sort of flour/meal with plaster-of-paris powder. If the rat eats it, the plaster sets in its inside, which kills the rat, but means that anything finding and eating the dead rat will not be poisoned.

[Qwerty]

Awnser: a big, heavy baseball bat!

[BrideXIII]

You might like to try the less toxic version. I've only read about this one, and it sounds pretty barbaric, but effective.
It needs placing where nothing BUT rats will get to it, and it has to be a dry spot. Mix some sort of flour/meal with plaster-of-paris powder. If the rat eats it, the plaster sets in its inside, which kills the rat, but means that anything finding and eating the dead rat will not be poisoned.

eeew, i know i am soft, and i KNOW rats are nasty to have around livestock, but that just seems so unecessarily cruel, at least poison is fast acting.
I aint so soft that I dont think a quick shake from a terrier is less cruel though. they have to be kept down, but i would rather use something as fast as possible, cant bear to think of anything suffering more than necessary.

[Capsid]

Rat poison is not fast acting. Warfarin acts by making the rats bleed to death internally and eradibait dehydrates. Both would take several days.