getting rid of rats

[ratattack 111]

I have got a couple of rat hole under my chicken shed, I do what I can to make sure there is no food about for them but I back onto fields and the sheds are dry and warm! Ideal for them to tunnel under.

I have put poison down, the stuff in 100g sachets I saw recommended on here, but they are not eating it. What is the best way to deal with the problem myself as I do not want to go to the expense of getting someone in and poison and traps dont seem to be working!

 

cheers

 

Chicken feed kept in metal bins? If not they will eat that.

 

So where is the stuff in 100g sachets placed? what is the stuff??

 

rats are neophobic....scared of new things in their environment. It can take a week or more sometimes for them to even try the poison. The sachets should be put whole into the rat holes and a brick used to cover the hole. The rat has to eat through the bait to get out. They can be opened and used loose in trays in covered runs which will probably get a quicker take.

 

All loose bait MUST be placed into a secure bait station/tunnel so it cannot be easily accessed by non target species.

 

Most importantly READ THE LABEL ON THE POISON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That carries statutory conditions for use, they are a LEGAL requirement. Using the poison outside of these conditions may render you liable to prosecution.

 

If in doubt get a professional. I was a a job today where they were DIYing, they had rats in their loft and garden the amount of bait they had down would barely feed a few mice! But they knew it all until they were shown the error of their ways. loose bait under the slabs outside with no real cover to stop their chickens getting the bait etc etc.

 

The sooner joe bloggs is prevented from buying poison the better!!

 

 

As for the comment of catching rats within an hour or two after setting......bollox!

There must be hundreds there for that to be happening, in which case i suggest you get a pro in cos traps aint gonna sort that out.

[JohnGalway 1,043]

As for the comment of catching rats within an hour or two after setting......bollox!

 

Just wondering about the above comment, not trying to get at anyone about it. I only do a small bit of rat trapping, usually in live catch mink cages. Most problems stem from either spilled or incorrectly stored feed stuffs. I always have a rat or two caught by the next morning.

[firemansam 0]

I have got a couple of rat hole under my chicken shed, I do what I can to make sure there is no food about for them but I back onto fields and the sheds are dry and warm! Ideal for them to tunnel under.

I have put poison down, the stuff in 100g sachets I saw recommended on here, but they are not eating it. What is the best way to deal with the problem myself as I do not want to go to the expense of getting someone in and poison and traps dont seem to be working!

 

cheers

 

Chicken feed kept in metal bins? If not they will eat that.

 

So where is the stuff in 100g sachets placed? what is the stuff??

 

rats are neophobic....scared of new things in their environment. It can take a week or more sometimes for them to even try the poison. The sachets should be put whole into the rat holes and a brick used to cover the hole. The rat has to eat through the bait to get out. They can be opened and used loose in trays in covered runs which will probably get a quicker take.

 

All loose bait MUST be placed into a secure bait station/tunnel so it cannot be easily accessed by non target species.

 

Most importantly READ THE LABEL ON THE POISON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That carries statutory conditions for use, they are a LEGAL requirement. Using the poison outside of these conditions may render you liable to prosecution.

 

If in doubt get a professional. I was a a job today where they were DIYing, they had rats in their loft and garden the amount of bait they had down would barely feed a few mice! But they knew it all until they were shown the error of their ways. loose bait under the slabs outside with no real cover to stop their chickens getting the bait etc etc.

 

The sooner joe bloggs is prevented from buying poison the better!!

 

 

As for the comment of catching rats within an hour or two after setting......bollox!

There must be hundreds there for that to be happening, in which case i suggest you get a pro in cos traps aint gonna sort that out.

 

 

 

I do store my food in old metal bins with lids, god Knows how may I would have if I didnt, and yes following advice from other threads on here the poison bags are pushed well into the holes and the holes covered in. I am very careful not put poison where my animals can get at it as well as any local hedgehogs and other wildlife. I would rather not use it at all!!! There does seem to be less activity down the garden, the rat trap has caught 1 yesterday, a nice piece of cheese done the trick!

I read, and take on board all comments on here, BUT, a neighbour of a friend of mine has just had rats in her loft. She got a company in who charged £170 for 1st visit to bait her loft then returned to re-bait (no deead rats but bait gone) as well as check her roof for holes, another £100....so far!

that does sound like a lot of money to me, is that putting people off using pest control companies?

[nod 285]

that is alot for the 1st visit, some of the bigger groups are unABLE to do it them selves so they sub the work out and charge a fortune ring round for the best quote but dont always take the cheapest ask questions aswell

[ratattack 111]

Thats a big bill for rats on a first and 2nd visit! bet the name begins with R

 

Rats in a loft are either from a broken drain, climbing plants on sides of house or easy access points near ground level in the affected or neighbouring property/properties. I had one job in a loft that went on and off for 18 months till the householder finally got the drains checked and that was a broken drain.

Many people diy as they think they can lob some poison or traps around and hope the problem goes away. I go to houses daily where people are doing this and guess what they still have to pay a pro in the end costing them a lot more as they are paying twice!!

 

 

Like i said johngalway, there must be plenty rats around to catch em overnight. It's not very common to catch wild rats that quickly, although rats carrying toxoplasmosis are known to be less cautious of new things in their environment. The virus needs to be eaten by another animal like a cat to complete it's lifcycle so the alters the rats behaviour enabling it to be caught and eaten.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11007336

[FightTheBan 1,147]

If you are using fenns, i would make sure the slightest movement sets them off, have the trigger resting on a bawhair.

I tried trapping rats at the farm i work on and they were eating the bait off the traps without setting them off, crafty buggers.

[RatSnatcher 0]

Dont always presume that......

 

 

1. because the bait stops being taken the rodents have gone

 

This is not always the case, the amount of times I do a domestic job and I find some previous bait left over from a previous infestation/job not done properly is suprising, bait being left is not a sign of full eradication.

 

2. If all jobs were as easy as putting a load of traps down and some bait then life would be easy but the awkward harder to solve rodent problems seem to be caused by have a go people who generally fack it for themselves :oops:

 

3. Rats in your garden generally extends to rats in your house, so get it sorted

 

After you have had a play with sorting out the problem for 5wks to no avail, sit back crack open a beer and be satisfied that you know have a much bigger problem that is only going to get worse :stupid:

 

[paulk73 151]

ive used mk 4 fenns placed in a home made tunnel on well used runs. the tunnel is made from plywoodand has a flap in the middle on a hinge. inside the tunnel i also put in two small fences, 1 either side of the trap just leaving a 2 inch gap at the top. thrn iset the trap and leave the safty on for a few days and bait the trap with butter/i cant believe its not butter(what ever i can affoard at the time). then after a few days i take the safty off, the rats come down the tunnel, which by now they are used to, jump over the fence and land right in the middle of the fenn trap which now has the safty off. i find this works very well. even after being told by a pro that it wouldnt work. ive used this method a lot with great results

[santons 2]

It has been very interesting reading all the replys above, being a "Non Proffessional Amateur Pest Controller" I too have had simular problems with rats not taking bait etc. etc. etc.and by trial and error have had quite a good catch success rate, I wouldent tottally disagree with most of the replys above from "The Proffessionals" especially with regards to training and gaining qualifications but we all have to start somewhere even the most experienced and qualified Pest Controllers I know can tell tales very simular to the ones mentioned within the above topics of when they started out.

 

Please keep up all the good advice as there are far more rats than pest controllers whether qualified or not