Rat problem in Chicken Run

Ding Dong

I discovered at the weekend that a rat/s had burrowed a hole under the henhouse. I dont think they have been there that long. I can also see where they got in. Anyhoo, I have moved the house so the hole is exposed, but I need to know if the rats are gone before I shut the gaps in the fence etc. I cant really use rait bait / grain as the hens or wildlife could be affected by it if they get to it. Any suggestions anyone? Would the rats up and leave now the hole is fully exposed? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

shaywest

ive solved this by using block bait shove it well down the hens dont see it dont worry about wildlife very unlikley they would go down a rat hole

whitser

get in touch with your lads in your area who keep ratting terriers. move your birds out and let them go to work for a few hours. ratting terriers are very effective and selective,killing rats only.

Peewee_lane

Hi OP, we keep hens too. I spotted a rat last week too, but theres no way it can get in. When we built out coop, we built two wire mesh framed to the base, so even if anything burrows down, they cant get in through the base.

Some people even put wire mesh foundations around, to stop them burrowing in.

When you put the hens away later, put out a rat trap, put some sausage in it, catch them one by one. Make sure you get the trap up before you let your lot out in the morning, because chicks are prone to peck at anything at all.

Vas_Guy

A trick i heard off is to get ferrite droppings from someone who owns a ferrit and the rats will get the scent of a ferrit and clear off.

ecaf

my mother has a trick for the rats and so that birds or dogs don't eat the poison.
Get an actimel container or something like this. Then get a sheet of cling film and smear it with butter, then spread the poison out over it and roll it up like a sausage and stick it in the actimel container. Bury this deep in the holes they've dug and they will eat the cling through the cling film to get at the butter, while also getting the poison too.

It has been very successful in our place. Hope you get rid of them soon!

Sigma Force

Is it possible the next day it's dry while the hens are out to give it a really good clear out, take everything out of there if there are any rats in they'll scurry out. Then disinfect the place, seal up the hole and set traps outside the sheds away from the birds. They know the shed has food and will try and get in again so some of the rats would need to be gotten rid of otherwise you could end up with a bad infestation.

Would be a good idea to clear out the whole shed because they could of pooped and peed anywhere in it.

Not big into poison as they die slower than a trap and if they wander off wildlife or a cat could get their paws on it.

We had them in a shed once, young rats hubby set a humane trap it worked very well. Once one is in the rest follow and you can trap a few at a time.

tallus

Vas_Guy wrote: »

A trick i heard off is to get ferrite droppings from someone who owns a ferrit and the rats will get the scent of a ferrit and clear off.

I also heard something similar to this, apparently rats are scared sh|tless of ferrets. It might work... food always attracts rats unfortunately.
I used to feed my cats outdoors in the summer and the dried food attracted rats. The cats took care of the rats tho.
Now I feed them indoors all year round.
Sorry to hear about your problem. I absolutely hate rats... they make my skin crawl and I don't even know why.

Ding Dong

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

Is it possible the next day it's dry while the hens are out to give it a really good clear out, take everything out of there if there are any rats in they'll scurry out. Then disinfect the place, seal up the hole and set traps outside the sheds away from the birds. They know the shed has food and will try and get in again so some of the rats would need to be gotten rid of otherwise you could end up with a bad infestation.

Would be a good idea to clear out the whole shed because they could of pooped and peed anywhere in it.

Not big into poison as they die slower than a trap and if they wander off wildlife or a cat could get their paws on it.

We had them in a shed once, young rats hubby set a humane trap it worked very well. Once one is in the rest follow and you can trap a few at a time.

Thanks for that! They are actually outside in a fenced of run, with the rat hole in the middle of the run. The have a movable house, so I have moved that off the hole so its exposed...