[Dans]

Well we have encountered our first rat. I was very proud of a makeshift goose nest box I made leaning against the side of the goose house. It is a garden table with  a dog cage underneath (to keep the eggs and bedding dry) with straw bales on 2 sides and the goose house on the third.

I just went out to check for eggs and saw a big brown lump in the gap between the goose house and dog cage. Because of where the door is for the dog the cage the gap isn't accessible by the geese. I prodded it with my stick and it didn't move, a fly came up and then I saw it was breathing. I thought it might be a large baby rabbit that was injured. I sent OH to invstigate as I needed to get back in to the toddler. He has reported back that it is a huge rat. I can only guess it has babies and that's why it didn't budge. We have a goose sitting on eggs in the goose house and I don't quite know what to do.

I don't like the idea of poison but how do we get rid of it. I don't want it living next to the goslings. We have a large drainage ditch running alongside our field and I've assumed we have some rats in there but I've never seen one actually on our land before.

Dans

[harmony]

If it sat tight it was possibly already poisoned. In my experience rats are usually pretty wick when disturbed. If you don't want to poison you can bait traps and then you will have to get rid of the rat. It has probably got a nest under your goose hut.


Personally we put out bait. Take a look around the goose hut. You will possibly find the entrance leading under the hut.

[Steph Hen]

There's no way a rat would sit tight that long! They're quick as a flash unless half dead.
Air riffle, cage trap, dogs/ferrets, break back trap or glue boards. Shooting a rat in a cage trap with an air rifle isn't quite as simple as you'd think.   
I quite like glue boards. I check morning and night, mice and rats are easily killed because they're held still. None of it's nice, shooting is Quite humane, but rats are hard to shoot because they're so quick and wary. Poison is probably the least humane, but easiest. Break back traps can work well, but you can catch non target species :-( even if set up in a tunnel. Non target species caught in glue traps can be removed with veg oil.
Good luck!

[bj_cardiff]

If you saw one rat then there's probably a lot more that you haven't seen.. Use bait boxes and poison them, if you don't they'll just breed and before you know it your overun with them. Their attracted to any food you leave out so geese, chickens and other poultry seem to attract them.

[in the hills]

As others have said, must have been something wrong with it if it sat there for that length of time!

Seen some sluggish ones here that must have taken some of our bait. Do you have any neighbours nearby that might be putting poison down?

We tried various traps but no takers. Had to use poison though really dislike it. We put it in the black boxes that you can buy.

[Dans]

Can a goose do serious damage to a rat? Wondering if it approach our broody goose (where the food is) and got attacked. She has gone quite crazy. Maybe concussed it?

I think it must have been injured/dying. OH was able to move the table from over it without it running away, then killed it with a blow to the head. Not the nicest but quick at least.

Can rats reach food in hanging feeders? Will have to start bringing food in overnight.

Do you make up glue boards yourself or buy them?

Dans

[in the hills]

Yes, they'll reach hanging feeders. Best to put it in metal storage containers overnight.

[stufe35]

Dans, here is something I wrote for another thread some time ago

Rats,
What we have found is that its best to constantly manage the risk of rats to prevent them setting up home with us. Once you get to the point you actually see a rat they have been there a while and there will be more than one. 

We live on a small holding and have a dozen or so hens, we are surrounded by arable farm land.

Mostly we are unbothered by rats but every now and again we will see evidence of their presence, often as mentioned by a poster above just after harvest when they have all been disturbed by the combining/ cultivation process on the fields.

We manage to keep them at bay using the following techniques :-

1.As far as possible make sure there are no food sources for them .  (no food source = no rats)

•   We store our hen food in bins with tight fitting lids which are always on unless we are using them.
•    We have proper scoops for transferring food from the bins to buckets to minimise/eliminate spillage of food in the storage shed.
•   New bags of food are transferred to the secure bins asap.
•   In the hen hut after our last rat visitation we took the plunge and bought one of the Grandpa type feeders which means there is not an ab-lib supply of food for the rats in the hen hut. They work with a treddle and require the weight of a hen to open the feeder and access the food.  http://www.grandpasfeeders.co.uk/products?gclid=CJ2No431h9ECFUI8GwodsmUM0Q There are a number of people now doing this kind of thing if you google them.  We happened to pick ours up second hand at a farm sale. They are expensive..but weighed up against the cost of poison and the hen food you supply to the rats it’s a no brainer.


2. Have predators ready to eliminate new arrivals. 

•   A few feral cats (or any cats) knocking about is an excellent thing. We have about 3 or 4 at any point in time..a couple we have got from friends (domestic type) and a few which migrate from the farm across the field…that are feral and have adopted us as they get better fed here !.  They are not allowed in the house but have access to plenty of sheds and are always fed there. I have seen them take rats. (quite honestly one cat would be enough.)
•   Have a trap set at all times.  Rats are wise creatures and are wary of anything new. So setting a trap after they’ve arrived takes time to be effective.  I have a traditional type sprung trap (large mouse trap). To avoid animals i don’t want getting caught in it, it is positioned in the hen hut in a small wooden box (which I made from scrap timber), with a removable lid and a rat sized hole in 2 corners of the box.  It has hen food dribbled around in the box. Rats love cover and this gives them it ..with a nasty surprise ! It is there all the time.
•   I haven’t had to resort to poison…but if you do use proper plastic box applicators that again prevent access to other animals and do daily patrols for dead rats.


3. Have as little cover for them as possible.

•   You will never stop rats getting under a hen hut…our hen huts are set up on blocks, so that the cats can get under too.
•   Our nest boxes are set up off the floor of the hen hut…so cats can get under too.
•   Our sheds all have an open door or window or bob hole where the cats can get in and out as they please…so they are always on patrol.
•   As far as possible reduce cover in your sheds, leave gaps that fit cats when stacking /storing things,  clear up loose bedding and old feed bags as you go along so places they can shelter and hide are eliminated.

Hope these thoughts are of help.  cheers  stu

One more..if you have a current infestation it could be worth getting someone with a terrier round.

[Foobar]

Don't poison, get some farm cats. Cats protection always have suitable cats for farms etc.
I took great pleasure in finding this huge rat last week - headless as my cat seems to prefer just the heads.

[bazzais]

Just keep the rat poisen in a box - you dont want it directly eaten by anything - but if dead rats get picked up after injesting and being killed ny it - the animal that ate it would have to eat alot to get secondary poisening.

Kill them before you get a problem.

Rat problems are a nightmare.

[bazzais]

When you get in your car in the morning and no lights come on - youve got rats

They will eat everything - water pipes - electric cables - wee and poo in all your food - get into the house and - well - you dont want rats - and to be honest I find it hard to dispatch anything - so piosen is the best route - get some boxes down - stop it before its too late.

[Tomdhu]

Kill them before you get a problem.

Agree whole-heartedly with Bazzais, but I am definately against poison becasue of secondary poisoning of other animals like barn-owls etc.

Much better to set up a trapping tunnel with an unbaited trap inside. You can leave this around for weeks if not months. Best to place it alongside a wall or fence where rats are likely to run
Rats love dark tunnels where they feel safe. Any newcomer rat will explore this and as soon as it crosses the treadle plate, it will set off the trap.
Tom