Bloody rats!

[Marigold]

Poppy has had a lovely day.
Rats have been tunnelling under the mesh that lines the floor of the run, and when I inspected it more thoroughly today I found they had hollowed out the base of one of the 3”x3” uprights and used this as a way in to make the tunnels - and had also chewed a hole above the mesh itself where it was supposed to be fixed firmly to the post, so they were actually getting in the run. This was all happening behind the back of the coop so not evident from the front.

At this point, two rats ran out of the tunnels and ran up the mesh to the roof, hiding behind the tarpaulins fixed to the sides for wind protection. They were ‘persuaded’ to come down, and Poppy chased and killed them both. It was mayhem for a while, with rats running around trying to hide and Poppy getting very excited.
I spent the rest of the day filling in the cavity in the wooden post, covering it with new mesh, filling the tunnels under the floor mesh by sprinkling gravel into them, and then clearing up and getting the coop back in place so the girls would know where to lay their eggs tomorrow. Exhausting.

Tomorrow I have to do it again because I think the next post along also has chewing problems and will need reinforcing.
Bloody rats!

 

[dianefairhall]

Well, good for Poppy! She deservedly looks very pleased with herself.

 

[Marigold]

That’s after having her face washed!

 

[dianefairhall]

That’s after having her face washed!

 

[Margaid]

I would say Poppy deserves extra treats for that except that she seems to have had a wonderful time chasing the rats! 08 It is after all bred into terriers, even breeds as small as Poppy!

 

[Marigold]

Especially breeds as small as Poppy. Bred to go down holes after rats, with an independent nature very resistant to recall training!

 

[Tweetypie]

Well done Poppy! More efficient than a lazy cat. 08 I don't have either, but the OH has a powerful rifle.

I can just imagine the effect of shooting rats in the chicken run! Poppy had quite a galvanising effect on the girls when she was chasing and killing the two rats that were dancing around the run. I’m sure I would hit a hen rather than a rat at such close quarters.

 

[bigyetiman]

Well done Poppy, 08 08 08 Gold stars on your chart, in her eyes she looks as though birthday, Christmas and anything else had come at once.
What a dog

 

[LadyA]

Well done indeed! The cold snap last week brought rats out here too. Usually, I never see them. Now, they were out in the day foraging around. They've also tunnelled under the floor of the run, which has weldmesh under the slabs. My current batch of hens are still laying well although they're over 2 years old now, but before I get the next batch (if, indeed, I get a next batch), I'll have to lift the floor and fill in the tunnels with gravel. I'm kind of tempted to put a concrete floor in. But, we'll see. I'm just not sure it's worth the work to keep hens for myself. Most of the eggs are given away. And I could buy eggs from the mini farm up the road. So, we'll see.

 

[dianefairhall]

We've not seen any rats since we've been here, not even after we got the girls. We did see them at the Yorkshire house, they came for the wild bird food but we often got a 'present' on the doorstep from Freddie, our great black and white hunter. It made a change from rabbits for him. We also give eggs away. We had no idea that all three hens would lay every day but they frequently do and the boxes build up. We can't eat three eggs a day between us but will occasionally have an omelette or frittata night which uses up a few. The cats like an egg beaten in milk too but our neighbours help out. one of them phones first to see if we have any spare, the other one just turns up. Her boyfriend was amazed she didn't have to pay. She is quite useful though as she will take a box of older eggs if she wants to do baking.

 

[rick]

Since about Feb (or maybe earlier at first report) we have had a litter (?) of young rats show up. They quickly went from 6 to 3 and I saw at least one being carried off by our neighbours cat. It has been the bird feeders mostly to blame but Ive put out the trail cam and they are climbing into the run over my slippery DPC plastic edge to the top of the 1/2 inch mesh. Its really interesting to watch them do it - just one bit on a corner has wrinkles that they can get a foothold on. And, little tykes. they have been chewing it away though that just shows that it bothers them. Have put up some fresh and made it smoother and put the camera out again tonight to see what happens. My neighbour has put out some poison - it has mostly been hitting what is left of the mouse population so far

 

[Marigold]

A couple of days ago Poppy said she thought there was a rats nest in some bales of Aubiose I had stored and covered by our back gate. She was right, of course. They had bitten a hole in the bag and made a hollow inside. She was very disappointed not to be allowed to enlarge the hole and dig it all out for me.

 

[Tweetypie]

It was my day off today and the sun was shining. After cleaning out the girls, I decided to treat myself to a laze on my sunlounger. I opened the shed door and to my horror, it had been partially eaten by mice or rats? I dont know how they got in either. There's no food in there to scoff. I was fuming, I only bought it last year.? Ive put some poison blocks down now, but I suspect they won't be back, as I don't think they fancy eating gardening tools !! ?

 

[dianefairhall]

Since about Feb (or maybe earlier at first report) we have had a litter (?) of young rats show up. They quickly went from 6 to 3 and I saw at least one being carried off by our neighbours cat. It has been the bird feeders mostly to blame but Ive put out the trail cam and they are climbing into the run over my slippery DPC plastic edge to the top of the 1/2 inch mesh. Its really interesting to watch them do it - just one bit on a corner has wrinkles that they can get a foothold on. And, little tykes. they have been chewing it away though that just shows that it bothers them. Have put up some fresh and made it smoother and put the camera out again tonight to see what happens. My neighbour has put out some poison - it has mostly been hitting what is left of the mouse population so far

I'm surprised your neighbour has put down poison, Rick, if he has cats that catch rats. Sounds pretty dangerous to me.

 

[LadyA]

I've been keeping traps baited here. In wire cages, so birds, hedgehogs cats, foxes etc don't get caught. Bloomin rats are bold as brass, running around.
There are five less now. Just in a few days.
I could do with more traps!

Sent from my SM-A415F using Tapatalk

 

[Icemaiden]

I had a dilemma a couple of weeks ago when I found a dead rat in the garden. Does it go in the garden bin, as I found it in the garden? It's clearly not recyclable, so it can't go in that bin. Does it go into the general rubbish bin, or the food waste bin? Answers on a postcard please...

 

[rick]

Since about Feb (or maybe earlier at first report) we have had a litter (?) of young rats show up. They quickly went from 6 to 3 and I saw at least one being carried off by our neighbours cat. It has been the bird feeders mostly to blame but Ive put out the trail cam and they are climbing into the run over my slippery DPC plastic edge to the top of the 1/2 inch mesh. Its really interesting to watch them do it - just one bit on a corner has wrinkles that they can get a foothold on. And, little tykes. they have been chewing it away though that just shows that it bothers them. Have put up some fresh and made it smoother and put the camera out again tonight to see what happens. My neighbour has put out some poison - it has mostly been hitting what is left of the mouse population so far

I'm surprised your neighbour has put down poison, Rick, if he has cats that catch rats. Sounds pretty dangerous to me.

It is dangerous and I'm against doing it myself. My neighbour doesn't have a cat but my other neighbour does and I was watching Lily out hunting last night and thinking that she needs to be careful. It is silly - the only reason they will eat the poison is if they are desperate, but that is because the food has been removed. Removing the food is really the main point.

 

[MrsBiscuit]

If you remove the food source (I know someone who has rats because they feed the birds and there is spilt food which is a feast for pigeons and rats alike) will rats actually move away? I was wondering if they had become used to the food, and set up home giving birth to more rats, would they move on?

 

[LadyA]

If you remove the food source (I know someone who has rats because they feed the birds and there is spilt food which is a feast for pigeons and rats alike) will rats actually move away? I was wondering if they had become used to the food, and set up home giving birth to more rats, would they move on?

This is the issue here too. My neighbour feeds the birds, and there are lots of hidey holes to make nests around my place. Under the deck seems to be a favourite! I've thought about getting a couple of feral cats, but although my last outdoor cat was great for killing rats (and would leave them lined up neatly in a row, paws in the air!), I've notice so many more birds around since he died that I'm reluctant to get more outside cats. The two I have are "special needs", and have to be indoor only.
But yesterday, even though I have the traps in cages, somehow a blackbird got in and was killed.

 

[dianefairhall]

We don't seem to be bothered by rats here - maybe it's an island thing. We have a wild bird feeder as well as the hens' food and our neighbours have a barn (lambing shed) where they store the sheep food. We've been here two and a half years and have never seen a rat. Plus we have two cats and they haven't found any either.