coma and talk to me about RATS

[hellymelly]

OH dear,we have always had rats around and about,country village,stream at bottom of garden etc,but since getting chickens I am now seeing them a lot and in broad daylight.They are as keen on hoovering up below my bird feeders as they are on getting left over chicken food,and most people have bird feeders in their garden don't they? I try to feed the hens many times through the day and stay with them while they eat it all up but its not always possible- the rat/s are even going up to the very exposed chicken feeder when I am not far away in the garden.What do I do ?

Er..that should read "COME and talk",not coma,although with my level of sleep deprivation it is a rather Freudian slip.

get the council rat man in, fixed fee (usually around £45) and he comes until they're gone.

I'm similar, rural, lots of farms, barns, orchards (they just love those windfalls apples), rivers, railway cuttings etc but he had them beat in a few weeks.

Not seen a sign for months, although may be difffernt come winter again.

Hmm,I was thinking we would have to call the rat man,was a bit bothered about putting poison down,and also worried that my neighbours would see the rat man's van and blame my chickens for any rats about (I have only had them for a few weeks so I don't think they are the cause although they must be making things worse.)I guess I should just tell my neighbours I have seen a lot of rats about.I have a terrier and I think he was keeping the rats at bay but he has been a bit eager to chase the chickens so I haven't been letting him have free range of the garden at any time which he had before.

Our rat man comes in an unmarked van

OOH an unmarked van! Not a yellow and red cherckerboard tunic,a long pointy beard and flute? (well that's what the rat-charmer looked like in my ladybird book).I was imagining RAT DEATH, WE KILL RATS FOR CASH etc.What a relief.

We bought some rat poison from the local farmers store and left it out each night, taking it in before the chickens got up. After a week or ten days the problem had gone.

I've no doubt we'll have to do it again though!

Try feeding your chickens just twice a day, morning and a little less in the evening (before they settle). The rats are attracted to the food that the chickens are leaving so make sure the chickens eat everything up then let them forage for the rest of the day.
Rats can get very bold and we had some that came right into the hall. Eeew.

We have the rat man come three times a year to put poison down round the farm but the neighbouring farmer does not and rats come in from his bit. We shot his rats and touch wood there have been no new sightings.

yep our council rat man defeated the giant rat in the shed eventually and seemed to take great pride in teh work. He did say having even a compost heap was tantamount to inviting rats in so I guess chicken food is a real draw. Could you get a terrier?

I was worried about putting poison down myself in case any other animals ate it,I'm not sure how you make it available to rats without putting wildlife at risk.I don't even want to poison them at all really -I used to have a pet rat- we also used to live on a boat and if they came in we would trap them and re-locate them rather than kill them,but they do seem to be getting too much of a foothold here and so I think killing them is the only option now .

d'oh should've pressed refresh before typing sorry to repeat everyone