[laurelrus]

We definitely have an increasing rat population but having dogs and free ranging hens we need to be very careful how we deal with them.
Yesterday at the farm supply store we saw electronic rat traps which are meant to electrocute the rats.
I really hate killing anything but we can't ignore them and I'm not sure what's worse, snap traps, slow-acting poison or electrocution.
The online reviews of the electronic traps are mixed so I would be glad of any input or advice.
Thanks

[sss]

I tried one and it only caught mice.

Our rats got out of control so we hit them with poison. Once that got the number down we then got a load of ferals and only seen the odd rat now.

The cats are now working through my bunny problem

[bazzais]

I tried everything, as I dont like killing stuff either or the idea of poison.  But in the end we had to use rat bait.  Just drop it down their nests or in places where other animals cant reach it.

The chance of secondary poisoning from eating a dead rat is almost nothing.

Barry

[Ghdp]

I have been told to put rat poison in a piece of gitter pipe so the hens, dogs, cats are no where near it. Will that do it?

[fsmnutter]

It also depends on the type of rat poison.
The toxic dose of some is really low for dogs, so avoid where possible.
There is a poison that comes under various trade names, but the active ingredient is 0.005% difenacoum.
I'm NOT saying this is harmless to dogs, but if they get at a small amount, it has much less chance of causing bleeding problems or death than other types.
I'd always advise that type when other animals are about for a little bit of a safety margin.
Hope that helps

[ScribbleUk]

Good experiences with the electric traps here.  Mice and Rats.  Seemed to be more effective than poison for us - which regardless of type and quantity only seemed to feed the rats rather than do them any harm.  At least with this type of trap you can see the results and can be easily disposed of. 

[DavidandCollette]

I have had success with the poison blocks by screwing them to a piece of wood. That way you can put them out of the way easily during the day. Also it means that ratty had to eat it there and then and can't take it away to store

[Fleecewife]

Have you had a look at why you have rats?  You can lower the attraction of your place to vermin by measures such as storing all feedstuff in metal bins, making sure no poultry or other livestock feed gets left scattered for the rats, avoiding bird seed from wild bird feeders lying on the ground, scratching up rat runs.  It won't deal with the problem you have now but will help.

When we had a huge sudden influx of rats some years ago, it was when a neighbouring farmer was storing his harvested grain in a large open-fronted barn.  The rat population exploded, then all the grain was used, so all we lucky neighbours roundabout suddenly became hosts to the millions.
We shot them, poisoned them (using bait boxes), and bought a couple of terriers  .  We made sure there was nothing for them to access for feed, or as little as possible, and after a couple of years numbers were back to 'normal'.  Now we rarely see them.

[ScribbleUk]

Fleecewife makes a good point - rather than spending money on poison each month which wasn't very effective, we used the money to buy storage bins.  Definitely has helped reduce wastage and also freeloading rodents.  Metal is probably best, but we just used round bins so that they don't have a corner to knaw at.

[Fleecewife]

Another rat story - before we chose the metal bins, we tried a large plastic dustbin.  It had just the dregs of feed in it, and had not been fully emptied.  Then we noticed a large hole in the lid, with gnaw marks around the edges, and a dead rat inside.  The dead rat wasn't so awful, but the chewed up remains of his chums scattered around in there with him wasn't quite so nice.  So several rats had gnawed their way in, but of course because of the slippery sides of the plastic bin couldn't get out again.  Horrible thought as to what went on in there  .  So we use metal now

[Slimjim]

I have found the most effective method so far is to use bait (Tom Cat) in the bait boxes that consist of a horizontal tube about 3" diameter and a foot long that sits on the ground and has a vertical transparent tube coming out of the centre. It is loaded via the vertical tube to the top and the cap replaced. You can then see how much is being consumed and when it needs refilling.
Concerned about other critters accessing it, I have effectively extended the horizontal tube using a clay ridge tile at either end.

[farmers wife]

The best rat is a dead rat and unless you kill them then you have to accept you will be burdened with them.  We keep as much as possible in containers and shipping containers however they did eat through the floor of one and made a right mess of our chicken feed after that it was warfare and went for the strongest poison  and a jack russell.  There are usually plenty of boys that will come up with night vision and doing some overnight ratting and this is very effective.


As much as you keep foods contained rats love to nest around the depths of the straw/hay and bury under the cow muck.  So this wont stop the breeding. 


When our jack was younger she was an amazing ratter and would hunt down the biggest she could find.  A bit too old and fat now.



I wouldnt waste your time with expensive rat boxes and what are you going to do - release it?


Rats are terrible vermin that are a risk to health and cause detrimental damage to buildings - best eradicated.

[Steph Hen]

 I used to live on a farm and kept ferrets. My landlady said they'd always had limited bother with rats, so always had bait down and turned up the odd dead one.

I got ferrets, kept in one of the sheds and I used to exercise them all around the yards and sheds. To my knowledge they never got one there (did kill rats elsewhere, so I know they were up to the job) but the rats all moved out. The bait stopped being taken, no more chewed bags, no one saw sign of a rat there all the time I had the ferrets. Nothing else changed, so think it was just the smell of them?

[harmony]

We have had ferrets and we have also had rats.


If you see one do they not say there is another 30.


Agree with everything people have said about metal bins but it is impossible when you are feeding stock to prevent nothing being left for them to pick up.


We also like the blocks. Nail them onto bits of wood and put them in places your dogs can't get to.

[Marches Farmer]

If you feed any stock or poultry grain-based feed then you'll have rats.  You can't eliminate them - other rat families just move in to fill the gap.  We always leave a 30cm gap around the edge of stacks of bales.  The droppings are easily spotted as they'll use the gap as a corridor and it's an ideal place to put a bait station.