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?

 

[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?

I will add, I'm not so naive as to rule out the possibility of more than one rat left, I know there's rarely only one. I'm just going based on the activity and all the sightings.

 

[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

 

[BelovedBirds]

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-Position-Vertical-Horizontal-Positions/dp/B07YL5BLK4/ref=sr_1_19?crid=3H74OMGJFG8GV&keywords=chunx+bait+box&qid=1675610395&s=lawn-garden&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

The area I live in is a town, we never get many rats, mainly because the neighbours have poison out most the time. The population has always been extremely small. And this was the first time the population spiked, we caught it fairly early, as soon as we saw droppings. The sightings have since been decreasing. If one rat is bold enough to come out during the day, why does there _have_ to be dozens?_ why not one or two left?
I agree it's possible, if not somewhat likely, that there are multiple left, but I'm not by any means convinced that we have dozens.

I will not use poison unless its an absolute last resort, my first course of action is electric shock traps. Until I've found out whether of not this is an option, I have my dog outside whenever I'm not there to keep it away, which she's quite good at surprisingly

 

[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.

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

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?

I’ve used them before . They are awesome !

 

[BelovedBirds]

I’ve used them before . They are awesome !

No issues with them? I think I'll have to go for this option

 

[BelovedBirds]

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.

I've already done "sanitation", I even moved my entire coop to check behind and underneath, blocked an entrance, etc etc. Feed is secured, and the garden is tidy around the pen. I did that while catching and relocating.
Now the population has decreased, I'm thinking I need to use a *humane* kill method to get the last ones.

I do obviously need to secure my coop, Im well aware that more rats, if not other animals, will fill the void. But I cant afford new wire right now, so I'm doing the best I can to deal with the current problem before doing the pen.
I'm hoping to secure it and upgrade my setup in a few weeks, once I can afford it. Consider it spring cleaning

But in the mean time, the current rodent/s are becoming confident enough to run at my birds and I cant take that risk.
I definitely won't be using poison, electric traps seem more humane and almost, if not equally as effective

 

[Ridgeback825]

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?

We had rats in our run area after I sealed up our BSF bin that needed taken care of but we also have a colony of flying squirrels in the wooded lot next door. I got a tiny live catch trap to get a few. The problem is, it educated the others and they refused to go in. I haven't seen any in a bit and hoped they moved on. I lost my childhood dog to parvo, so I have zero issues killing those disgusting flea bags, but didn't want to harm the squirrels, so the live trap was great!

 

[BelovedBirds]

We had rats in our run area after I sealed up our BSF bin that needed taken care of but we also have a colony of flying squirrels in the wooded lot next door. I got a tiny live catch trap to get a few. The problem is, it educated the others and they refused to go in. I haven't seen any in a bit and hoped they moved on. I lost my childhood dog to parvo, so I have zero issues killing those disgusting flea bags, but didn't want to harm the squirrels, so the live trap was great!

That is the beauty of live traps!
I currently have a live trap, I experienced the same, it took on average 2 weeks in-between catches, once one is caught, it will screech and the others will learn to be wary of the trap. Once I have the trap empty, I set it back up on safety and scatter bait at the entrance. They got comfortable going in a few steps, and so when I put it back on live, they'd go all the way in and get caught.
The 4th rat fell in a bucket of water so that got one but accidently.

I don't mind rats tbh, the animal in itself is very emotional, very intelligent, I find them very sweet! I just don't find them sweet when they're in my duck pen, and I most definitely do not find when sweet when they charge my birds!
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