I hate rats
Nasty dirty creatures, that carry nasty diseases. And they are stealing our eggs. At the moment the rats are winning. In fact, they are expanding their empire, and we have not had an egg all week
We have set traps, and caught only a hedgehog. We are using live catch traps (for this very reason) so he was inconvenienced, and disgruntled, and left having eaten our snickers bait. Ebby, the cat, is doing better and has caught four rats so far.
We have tried:
encouraging the cat,
visited the hens every hour in the hope of collecting eggs before them,
set 5 live catch traps,
and bought and set up a sonic rat deterrent.
The last one sounds a bit far fetched, but we are willing to try anything.
Well, anything apart from poison. See, they say you can put the poison somewhere safe, but still accidents happen. The woman behind the counter at the feed merchants told me how she thought her hens had bird flu as they all died.. but then found they had got at the rat poison. Then there is the consideration of what happens to something that eats a poisoned rat. They say that cats don’t like carrion. And what about the animals that do like carrion? But it is true, our cat wont eat unless it’s freshly killed. He wont even eat meat scraps from the chopping board, in fact he is such a fuss-arse.. he wont eat tinned cat food if it was opened more than twenty minutes ago! but… It takes up to four days for the rat to die, after eating the poison. And as I said, our cat is a good ratter. he will eat them given half a chance (we take them away, but we only know about the four he showed us…), and that rat could have eaten the poison earlier and still be alive…. Nope, no poison here.
We set up the sonic device, the chickens seemed completely unbothered, and were not wandering around clutching their heads and muttering about what a bad night they had with that terrible racket going on, and we did collect an egg today.. though it could be just coincidence. Only one, but then we only have four mature hens, one of which is useless, one has just finished being broody so won’t be laying yet.
Next, we are looking at a non-poison.. eradirat - approved of by the likes of the barn owl trust.. works by messing up their digestive system. Fingers crossed something works…
How do you know it is rats taking the eggs? We had 13 eggs when we were away and in the week since coming back just 3 and none today. There is no obvious evidence of rats but I am running out of ideas as to why we are getting no eggs or why our 4 have all gone off laying suddenly.
well, it was the only conclusion we came to when it transpired that eggs had been stolen from under our broody, who was in a coup in a covered hen run.
Then we started looking, and there are rat runs. Close to the surface, if you turn over a block or something on the ground, there is a run, and a hole.
That combined with the fact our cat is very interested, and has been catching rats.
Your hens might be laying away? are they in a run or completely free range? I would start by looking for somewhere else they might be hiding them.. then look for pests……
Laying away is one possibility - the hens were in an enclosed field when we were away. They have now been given their freedom again but rarely venture out of their field (which I have checked for eggs). We know one was laying in the garden shed but then the dog got one of the eggs. The door has now been closed and the hen hasn’t been out of the run recently anyway. But as there is no obvious sign of rats it looks like I shall have to add “Look for hidden eggs” to my list for tomorrow!
other pests include crows and magpies.. they will steal eggs . and obviously your dog!
No sign of rats, no crows or magpies, dogs well and truelt kept away, no hidden eggs as far as I can see and still no eggs. It’s a mystery. Tomorrow I’m going to put an egg back into one the nest boxes to see it it is still there in the evening (and to try and indicate to the chooks what they are supposed to be doing!)
oh thats a good idea. be interesting to see what happens. Could be they are having a moult.. and a break from laying… seems a bit odd that they would all do it at the same time though….
We have been trying Eradibait for the very same reasons as you…hens, wildlife, cats, children etc…also I really do not fancy killing the rats in an agonising way…
We have also had HUGE problems with squirrels, to the point where we have got an air gun and a live trap…we killed 12 in the space of 36 hours ( which was only 10 hours of active trapping!)
nasty …..but given they had stripped completely 2 apple trees, 2 pear trees, 3 plum trees and had started on the produce in the polytunnel…a neccessity…..
We grow stuff to feed ourselves at Compost Mansions, NOT the squirels…..
I still do NOT like killing them, tho’
yeh squirrels can become a big problem. I though of this re the eggs - but our hen run is covered, and then we found the rat runs.
as for killing them - totally understand, i would rather not too, but at the end of the day its either you or them.
in 36 hours? thats an infestation. and they are not great for wildlife in that number either..stealing birds eggs etc.
Right - the egg was still there this evening so nothing is taking them. We have seperated out the cockerels in case they are hassling my girls and also we can give the girls some extra layers mash. We have also let them go free range again which they do prefer. No evidence of them moulting. Rang a friend today and he said his had stopped laying too - possibly due to thunderstorms of late and some very heavy rain last week.
well thats good news. seems nothing is stealing them.
mine do seem to lay less if its bad weather. keep an eye I guess, and an ear for that ‘I just laid an egg’ noise…
Now, this is a bit horrid, and I discovered it by accident, but I left the lid off a nearly empty feed bin a while back and came back to find two rats trapped in it.
Well, I wasn’t going to let them go, so I girded up my loins, put on a pair of good gloves, took a stout stick and walloped them.
As I say, a bit up close & personal, but quicker than poison and arguably more humane than what a cat might do (do they “play” with rats? I think ours did.). And it’s not as if I don’t dispatch our chickens when the time comes to roast them…
Anyway, what I now do if I suspect I have a rat issue is leave the top off a nearly empty feed bin and see what I catch.
oh good tip. thanks
Some of the rats Ebb has brought home have already been dead.. and some dying, and two very much alive
so we are familiar with the big stick method. As you say, a bit horrid and close up and personal, but my dislike for rats, weils disease is such that we manage it. and as you say, nicer than some of the alternatives…
the rat problem does seem to be less now, since we filled in the gaps around the sewer cover.. then again it might be Ebb’s 7 kills.. we are getting eggs again now…