Rats!

[Titsalinabumsquash]

I have discovered we have not so small and furry things living in the shed and feasting on the chicken pellets.

I have found lots and lots of poo and several holes around the fence and shed base.

I'll be purchasing some metal feed bins with lids tomorrow and scrubbing out the shed.

What else can I do to get rid of them and do I need to replace all the food?

I'm worried if I get rid of their food source they'll attack the chickens.

We have cats mainly for rat catching - we weren't going to replace our ageing cat until we watched a rat stroll happily along the garden path near where were sat!

Could you lay a trap in the shed if cats aren't a possibility?

I was very tempted by a cat, we had 3 that all passed away to the litter box in the sky over time, however after being reminded of the great flea infestation of a few years ago, I don't think I have the time, resources or sanity to do it all again, so I think we'll have to go with traps, but I'm not sure if it's better to put poison in an enclosed trap or lay humane traps and let the critters out in woodland several miles away, I'm not sure of the scale of the problem or how long we've had them.

Poison in an enclosed trap, and three (not at all humane) traps baited with chocolate buttons cleared them up for me last month.

Feed in a metal bin.
Invest in a metal treadle feeder.
Only feed in the morning and remove all food at night.

I agree with thatbloodywoman. I did the same.

I've done everything suggested, they've not touched the poison, not even a nibble

They've started getting brave and walking around the garden day and night, the chickens see them off quite quickly, I've only actually seen one this evening and it's quite cute, I feel bad for trying to poison it, then DP pipes up that the ones he saw yesterday were much cuter because they're only babies!

We live in a house the back onto a train station, that's not going to be helping things is it?

Does anyone know if we can put anything in their holes? We've found a couple now under and alongside the shed.

I've got many one too. I put a baited unset trap down last night, hoping to get ratty addicted to Nutella, then I'll set it. I've also put the dirty litter from the ferrets litter trays down, and I'm eyeing up the hosepipe, might shove it down one of the holes, and flood the bastards out :(

I've discovered Pasta bait is the best, they've been taking it as soon as it's put out everyday now so I'm going to keep putting it out (and down their hole) until they stop taking it. (It does smell strangely appealing, I wonder if I'm part rat?! )

Rats don't like change / anything different, so may avoid the poison to begin with.

My (so called ex-feral) rescue cat is useless with anything bigger than a baby mouse or rabbit but I did find one of these (baited with peanut butter) to be really effective www.amazon.co.uk/Pest-Stop-PSERK-Electronic-Rat-Killer/dp/B000FII3YW