Rats, bloody rats

[richje100]

i went to collect the eggs this evening, hens roosting like they normally do. heard a scratching & ruffling noise. thought nothing of it, just maybe the hens shuffling about. low & behold 2 rats came running out of the coop. now i know why the food has been disappearing pretty quickly.
anyone got any suggestions to killing them? i could put traps to kill them out of the way of the birds, but anyone got any idea how many rats there could be by experience? the shed is on an allotment & theres a few plots with chickens, suppose ive been waiting for them to venture onto my patch.

 

[Sillystunt]

omg, i saw one last night and screamed...haha
they have a new trap you buy, it goes in and the door shut, you toss! no mess, seeing death an snapping traps that could get chicken feet

 

[richje100]

when i told the wife, she shuddered. i dont mind them but when they bother me, thats when ill kill them. they ran from under the nest boxes (i have them sitting on a table which i've put boardingg across the front to stop the hens going underneath & cutting themselves on screws). ill have to strip it away, lay the traps then disinfect the shed & food bowl. bloody things !!!

 

[Lady_Cluck]

Arghghgh, nothing makes me madder than rats in the barn!!! A few years ago when a neighbor's old barn burned down, all their rats moved in to my barn and I had HUNDREDS of them!

I've heard the saying that for every 1 rat that you see, there are 25 that you don't.

The best solution I've come up with to manage my own rat problem is 1: don't leave any feed out overnight, no matter what, and 2: the Rat Zapper!

This thing works great. I have two of them and they keep the rat population down to a minimum. It's humane, no mess...and most importantly there is no poison for any chickens to accidentally ingest!!

 

[jjthink]

If you have a set up where you can prevent rat entry with hardware cloth or other barriers, this is the only long term solution.
They will go out during the day (maybe not the first day but in time, because they usually will want this or that from the outdoors) and won't be able to get back in in the evening when their access has been cut off, at which point they will head for greener pastures elsewhere.
Make sure all food is unavailable at night (metal cans with weights on top).
JJ

 

[richje100]

so,
2 jack russells been on the hunt, didnt find anything. so at least i know the nest isnt anywhere my shed.
the traps are set with chocolate. that'll teach them to mess with my birds.

 

[gsim]

If you saw two, they have cousins, uncles, aunts, etc.