I smell a rat!

[Cab]

There was a rat smell in the garage this morning, which is a new one for us.

We get the odd mouse in there when the weather turns cold, but we keep on top of that with little mousetraps (and on one occasion letting a couple of hens into the garage... Better mousers than any cat I've met). So I don't really worry too much about the mice visiting.

Now I grew up with plenty of vermin about the place, so I know my rodent smells; I've had a rat in the garage. Might have squeezed through the ceiling space from the neighbours garage, possibly through from under the garage door, maybe even through the garden and through the shed and connecting door to the garage. That route being entirely possible it means the rat(s) would have easy access to the chicken run... Which I can't allow!

No evidence they've done so yet, but if rat wasn't just passing through he WILL find the run! So I need to deal with these rats first!

Mice I'm happy trapping; rats are rather harder. I'll try that, but its a bigger ask for it to work.

Anyone else have rat issues around their chooks? How do you control them? Is it safe to use poison in sites entirely inaccessible to chickens (e.g. in the shed/garage) or is risk of poisoned rat dying around the hens in itself a problem?

Cheers,

Cab.

 

[dinosaw]

Poisoned rats can travel a fair old distance before they die depending on the poison, non of which to my knowledge kills them in less than hours, I found them 50ft from bait stations my neighbour had set up last year so it is a possible issue with regards to secondary poisoning. As you say trapping rats isn't as easy as mice with them being suspicious so and so's, needs a lot more patience, try some mk4 fenn traps and pre bait them for a few days before actually setting them to go off. Of course if your neighbour has noticed them in their garage and decides to poison then there isn't much you can do about it.

 

[chrismahon]

We NEVER use poison Cab -too risky. We use MK4 Fenn traps, as Dinosaw, with great success. Just watch your fingers and cover them to prevent trapping passing cats.