Rat problem almost solved, and the one thats left...

[BelovedBirds]

I believe I started with a half dozen rats, I have unintentionally killed one, and relocated 3. So that's 4 down. I have only seen one for the past while, I know it's the same one as it looks slightly different. It's a big one.

We are so very close to fixing this issue. The drop in rat sightings is massive. I disrupted all the hiding places, thought I secured the pen. We're close to getting them gone, for now.

But today, my mum claims she saw a rat in the pen "charge" my ducks. Thats a game changer... And I'm not having that. I also have a bunny in a pen beside them, who is even more at risk if they decide to get into her pen. I'm not going to risk my girls wellbeing to spare the remaining one, or two, rats.

I'm going to have a good go at catching the last rodents tonight. IF that fails, I'll be changing my method.

I've heard of electric shock traps being the most humane. Have any of you used these?
They use a high voltage electricity to instantly kill the rat. But how can I ensure its the rat that goes in? I don't want to accidently kill some other animal.
And do they even work outdoors? I have heard of battery powered ones.

If this is a bad idea, what is the second most humane method?

 

[Al Gerhart]

You cannot kill your way out of a rat infestation because even if you were successful the void would quickly be filled by a new population coming into the vacant territory. Search the forum using "Howard E rat 101" and you will find the best information ever posted on rodents and chickens.

The three methods possible are sanitation, exclusion, and elimination. They are in order of lowest cost and surest result. You are trying to use the least effective method. Sanitation is securing the feed and cleaning up the hiding and travel routes, exclusion is build a Fort Knox coop, elimination is trapping and poisoning. Starving out a rat through sanitation and elimination of safe travel paths is the cheapest and most permanent solution.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Well, I'm probably speaking much too soon, but I haven't seen a single rat, or sign of a rat, since the trap confusion. Maybe still out there, but I think my neighbours or their cats may have eliminated the remaining ones. Either way, population is continuing to decline.
I'm having a spring clean out of the pen end of this month, I'll try and bump my security, and raise my coop a bit. Take more precautions to prevent them coming back.

Feeling positive about it though

 

[Egghead_Jr]

If you see a rat you have dozens. If you see rats during the day in the open you are inundated. The only viable way to rid the population is outdoor bait boxes with chunx bait. It takes them a week to get used to them and start to go inside to feed from them. In over a decade of using bait boxes I've only seen one chipmunk dead on the lawn. Rodent that didn't make it back into it's hole to die. 99.99% of them go back into their den to die. It's very safe for use and I keep a box right in the chicken run except when chicks are growing that are small enough to go into the box.

https://www.amazon.com/Tomcat-Posit...sprefix=chunx+bait+box,lawngarden,203&sr=1-19

Two types of bait. For first time use and to eliminate a large existing population I recommend bromadiolone for slow acting poison that will be fed to young in dens. Once the area is clear and you run out go to the fast acting poison that will kill rodents as they move in before they set up homes. The bait box above is the larger one with four posts for bait. Once the rats start eating it you'll have to refill it on a daily basis then they stop taking it as they are all dead.

Slow acting is the yellow and green label, fast acting is the red label.

https://www.amazon.com/Tomcat-All-W...5e-8f27-cf1908c89223&pd_rd_i=B000HHOALG&psc=1

 

[dawg53]

The electronic rat trap works great. See post #18 for pics. The only good rat is a dead rat.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rat-issue.1556841/page-2#post-26370741

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Strong suggestion: do more research before trying this.

No matter what the marketing may say about it being safe for non-rodents, I would not mix it into the feed you give your chickens unless you thoroughly research what ingredients are in it, and what effect they would have on chickens. Many things are safe in small amounts, but harmful in larger amounts, and you don't want to harm your chickens by mistake.

You should probably also research how much the rats need to eat. Mixing it with chicken feed would make it likely that rats will eat some of each-- would they get enough to kill them? Or would it be diluted enough that they are fine?

I doubt that you could fool the rats by mixing it with the chicken feed. They would probably notice that it was different. They might eat it anyway if they found it appetizing, or they might not, but I'm pretty sure they would at least notice.

Oh sorry, I should have been more clear. I mostly have rats in my garage. I would just put out some chicken feed in the garage (my chickens cannot access the garage) as bait for the rats, let them enjoy it for a few days, and then mix the Rat X with the feed so they eat it. I didn't mean I would actually be putting it near my chickens haha. Some people I've seen on Youtube have, but I don't trust that and wouldn't want to risk it.

 

[Ridgeback825]

I agree. I had a pet rat as a kid and it was 100x smarter than a hamster. However, after losing my dog, it was war with the wild ones. I have zero issues killing wild rats that spread diseases. We have even had them host bot flies, which was nasty!

 

[NatJ]

So now, I need to use kill methods. But I can't bring myself to use something that will give them a slow painful death, so it's a compromise between being humane and being ruthless

Have you considered the snap-type traps?

If it snaps properly on the rat's head, that should kill it just as quickly as any other method could.

relocated 3

I hope you checked the rules where you live.
In many parts of the USA there are laws against relocating trapped animals, but I see you are in the England and I don't know about the rules there.
And I hope you considered whether they would just become a problem for someone else in their new location.

(Many people do not consider these points, so I hope you are one of the people who DID think it through and do the right research first )

how can I ensure its the rat that goes in? I don't want to accidently kill some other animal.

For any kind of trap, if you put it where only a rat can go, you have protected all other animals from it.

For example, putting a trap in a cage made of wire mesh, with holes big enough for a rat to enter, will protect any animal larger than a rat. A trap in a cage inside the duck pen might be one way to protect the ducks while having a chance of catching the rat (obviously you would check whether the ducks can reach their head into the cage to get to the trap.)

If the rat goes in your duck pen, you could also consider putting the ducks someplace else while you set traps in their usual pen. The ducks might be a different pen, or in crates in your house, or something like that.

 

[dawg53]

The only problem is that you have to use a lot of batteries, and they can’t get wet.

Try using quality D-cells like Duracell or Energizer instead of Harbor Freight D-cells. The 4 quality D-cells last a long time. Check out the pics in my link above, those rats were killed over a period of about 12 days using the same batteries.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

Not true. The rats in my link above were all electrocuted within 5 days after placement on top of the chicken coop.

that's great. you must have had a lot of rats! usually they are very wary of new things. mice are less discerning.